Ann C., 37, knows how addictive prescription drugs can be.
In 2002, the Lansing-area woman was prescribed the oral painkiller Percocet as a result of lingering pains from a car accident. Within months, she became addicted, she said.
"At my worst, I was taking 40 pills a day just to function," said Ann, who would not give her last name because she wanted to keep her drug abuse private from friends and employers. "At that point, it wasn't euphoric."
Ann is one of about 6.2 million Americans who abuse pain medications, according to a 2002 Household Survey performed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Prescription drug abuse often is classified as an individual taking prescription medication not prescribed to that individual or taking more than a prescribed dosage.
Some health researchers say the trend has crossed onto college campuses.
When MSU police Officer Jerry Roudebush was working undercover and monitoring drug use in the East Lansing area, he said he saw few cases of illegal possession of prescription drugs, especially compared to other "street" drugs.
"A lot of it goes unnoticed and unreported," he said.
This might be because people who legally get the prescriptions sell them to friends, making illegal use or possession hard to track, he said.
The dangers of taking unprescribed medication hit home on Feb. 15 when MSU student Nicholas Mainella was found dead in his East Lansing home. He died after an accidental mixed drug intoxication from methadone and hydrocodone, Ingham County Medical Examiner Dean Sienko said.
This incident is not isolated, Mainella's friend James Slack said two days after the 20-year-old's death.
"A lot of people up here are doing it," the economics junior said. "Lots of kids are popping pills. A lot of people consider taking prescription drugs as not a big deal."
Ann said while she was addicted, she never thought of herself as a drug addict.
"When you become addicted, your brain kind of makes up pain," she said. "You think you're still in pain even if you're not."
"It's very sneaky, you start to rationalize taking more and more."
Campus statistics
At MSU, 6.6 percent of students reported using prescription pain medication not prescribed to them -?often stolen or bought from people with a prescription - within the last 30 days, according to the 2004 Spring Celebration Survey. And 5.2 percent said they have used a prescription without a doctor's supervision at some point before the last 30 days.
More than 1,200 students were surveyed online in a random sample for the MSU survey, said Dennis Martell, Olin Health Center Health Education Services coordinator.
At least 7 percent of college students have used prescription drugs as stimulants for nonmedical purposes, according to a recent study conducted by the University of Michigan. The study looked at 119 four-year colleges and universities nationwide.
Looking for facts
In April 2004, Gilbert Quintero, a research associate professor with the University of New Mexico, was given a grant by the National Institute on Drug Abuse to study prescription drug abuse among college students.
"They're more apt at this stage of life to take personal experience more than they might warning labels," he said. "There's an expectation with this age group, a perception, that a lot of people say, 'I'm young, I'll try some things.'"
Quintero said there is a general lack of knowledge about the extent of this phenomenon.
He said that preliminary results of the study have revealed students are using a variety of drugs. The most popular drugs used are narcotic analgesics, which act on the brain and spinal cord to reduce the amount of pain felt; and benzodiazepines, anti-anxiety and muscle relaxant medications, he said.
Reasons for using are varied. Quintero said he also has seen patterns in students dealing with college life, including using stimulants to combat stress and function in the often demanding lifestyle. Prescription drug abuse can range from recreational to everyday use.
Observing the problem
Some people don't perceive the abuse of medications the same way as the use of illegal drugs, said Luke Catton, president of Narconon Arrowhead in Oklahoma, one of the largest drug and alcohol addiction treatment centers in the nation.
"They see heroin as a street drug, as dangerous," he said. "They look at OxyContin and don't see it as dangerous or bad. Because it's in a bottle, it seems much less harmful."
OxyContin, a name-brand of oxycodone, is a narcotic painkiller prescribed to people for chronic pain post-injury or for severe arthritis.
Prescription drug abuse on campus is more than a statistic to many students.
Education sophomore Elyse Gildenberg said she knows of students who use unprescribed prescription drugs for everything from studying to recreation.
"Because so many people take them, it doesn't seem so bad," Gildenberg said. "I got Vicodin when I got my wisdom teeth taken out, and people were telling me I could save it and sell it."
Vicodin is a name-brand hydrocodone often prescribed for post-surgical pain.
Health consequences
Although many people might see prescription drug use as safe, doctors and pharmacists say even something as simple as taking a few of someone else's pills is unhealthy.
"You may not have an accurate diagnosis and may not know what the drug will do," said John Thornburg, an MSU professor of pharmacology and toxicology and a clinician at the MSU Clinical Center. "You may get more than you bargained for."
Many medications have adverse side effects when taken with other drugs, including alcohol, Thornburg said. The two main types of pain medications are opioids and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, which are commonly referred to as NSAIDs.
Examples of opioids include morphine, Vicodin, and oxycodone, and examples of NSAIDs include acetaminophen and ibuprofen. Morphine is the most well-known prescription pain medication to be abused, although Vicodin and OxyContin are among a growing list of abused prescriptions because opioids have more addictive qualities, Thornburg said.
The majority of people who take these drugs for acute pain do not become addicted, but because these drugs can cause a feeling of euphoria, they are sometimes abused, he said.
"Addiction is thought to involve a reward system in the brain," Thornburg said. "Most likely, they'll end up feeling crummy."
When higher-than-prescribed doses are taken, Thornburg said, a person's breathing rate can slow to about a quarter of the average level.
Legal trouble
Possession of an illegal prescription drug, one unprescribed to someone else, is a felony carrying a two-year sentence and possibly a $2,000 fine, Assistant Ingham County Prosecutor Linda Maloney said.
The penalty for getting a controlled substance by fraud, such as through a fake prescription, is a four-year sentence and a potential $30,000 fine.
The office sees more cases of false prescriptions than illegal possession, Maloney said.
"Pharmacies are very vigilant and will contact the police agencies when they are suspicious they are getting false information," Maloney said.
Looking forward
After going through a grueling in-home detoxification process and becoming "clean" in 2003, Ann said she is much happier. Although she admits she has an "addictive personality" and has some rough days, she is better able to confront those issues after getting help.
"My addiction started before I picked up the pain pills," she said. "I was very much an active addict before I picked up the Percocet."
Ann urges people who are struggling with a prescription drug abuse addiction to get help, because, she said, overcoming the addiction was one of the best things she ever did.
"My worst day clean is better than my best day using," she said. "I don't have the struggles I used to have."
