Young Athletes and Drug Addiction

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• Youth sports can be a rewarding activity for many
  young people. It teaches them teamwork,
  dedication, and other skills that are necessary
  to become a functioning adult. In a growing
  number of tragic cases, however, being involved
  in sports also leads young athletes down the path
  of drug addiction.

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• Every year, one quarter of the 7.5 million high
  school athletes in the U.S. suffers a sports
  injury.1 To help these young athletes cope with
  the pain of broken bones, strained muscles, and
  other painful medical conditions, doctors will
  often prescribe painkillers. While prescription
  painkillers have useful medicinal applications,
  they are often addictive and can lead to drug
  abuse.

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• Many of the effective and commonly prescribed
  painkillers, such as Vicodin, OxyContin, and
  Percocet, are known as much for their addictive
  qualities as they are for their medicinal value.
  When young athletes suffer multiple injuries or
  have to manage chronic pain, they are often given
  this kind of pain medication, which can lead to
  addiction after long-term use.

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• Many common painkillers are opioids synthetic
  medications that have the same or similar effects
  on the body as drugs derived from the opium
  plant. When a young athlete becomes addicted to
  painkillers, they will often transition to heroin
  or other hard drugs once obtaining prescription
  medicine becomes too difficult or expensive.

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• When properly managed, using painkillers to treat
  sports injuries in the short term is safe and
  non-habit forming. It is when painkillers are
  prescribed over a long period of time or when
  painkillers are easily available to teens who
  miss the feeling of euphoria and/or lack of pain
  that the medication gave them, that addiction
  becomes a serious risk.

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• In recent decades, using prescription drugs
  recreationally has become much more common
  among adults and kids up to 38 million people
  worldwide used opioids as a recreational drug in
  2011 alone.2 When prescription medication is
  overprescribed or easy to get ahold of, the
  danger of young athletes continuing to abuse the
  medication rises dramatically.

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• According to recent studies, the number of high
  school athletes who admit to abusing prescription
  painkillers has risen in recent years. 12 of
  male athletes and 8 of female athletes
  questioned in a National Council on Alcoholism
  and Drug Dependence, Inc. (NCADD) survey admitted
  to abusing prescription medication. The study
  also found that teens who play sports are more
  likely to take prescription medication
  recreationally than their peers who are not
  involved in sports.3

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• Parents and teachers can help prevent drug
  addiction among teen athletes in several ways
• Carefully monitor how many painkillers an injured
  athlete is taking, and for how long.
• Keep prescription medication in a safe place
  where kids cannot access them, and then discard
  them when they are expired or no longer needed.
• Educate young athletes on the dangers of
  prescription drugs.
• Encourage young athletes who cannot stop taking
  medication to seek treatment as soon as possible.

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• Yellowstone Recovery helps people reclaim their
  lives from alcohol and drug abuse. Located in
  Orange County, Yellowstone Recovery offers
  compassionate and knowledgeable care to teens,
  adults, and seniors. Learn more at
  www.yellowstonerecovery.com.

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1. http//usatodayhss.com/2015/when-painkilling-becom
   es-an-addiction-for-young-athletes
2. http//www.unodc.org/documents/wdr2015/WDR15_Drug_
   use_health_consequences.pdf
3. https//ncadd.org/in-the-news/1217-more-teen-athle
   tes-abusing-prescription-painkillers