How Young Adults Obtain Prescription Pain Relievers for Nonmedical Use. The NSDUH Report. Issue 39

There has been a growing concern in both the law enforcement and public health arenas about the increase in the use of pharmaceutical drugs for nonmedical use, especially among young adults. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) asks persons aged 12 or older questions related to their nonmedical use of prescription-type drugs, including prescription pain relievers, during the past year. This report focuses on the prevalence of past year nonmedical use of prescription pain relievers among young adults aged 18 to 25 and how they obtained the prescription pain relievers they used most recently for nonmedical purposes. All findings presented in this report are based on 2005 NSDUH data. Findings include: (1) In 2005, 12.4 percent of young adults aged 18 to 25 used prescription pain relievers nonmedically in the past year, and 1.7 percent met the criteria for past year prescription pain reliever dependence or abuse; (2) Among young adults aged 18 to 25 who used prescription pain relievers nonmedically in the past year, over half (53.0 percent) obtained them from a friend or relative for free when they last used pain relievers nonmedically; and (3) Among young adults aged 18 to 25 who used prescription pain relievers nonmedically in the past year and met the criteria for prescription pain reliever dependence or abuse, 37.5 percent obtained the prescription pain relievers that they used most recently for nonmedical purposes for free from a friend or relative, 19.9 percent bought them from a friend or relative, and 13.6 percent obtained them from one doctor. (Contains 1 table, 4 figures, and 7 endnotes.)