5 days ago
1 in 55 Japanese middle schoolers abuse over-the-counter drugs, survey shows
A survey conducted by the National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry has found that 1 in 55 middle school students — or 1.8% — abused over-the-counter drugs in the past year.
The survey saw 1.5% of male students and 2.0% of female students admitting to having used over-the-counter drugs for the purpose of 'feeling high or changing their mood' and taking more than the prescribed doses or for purposes other than what the medications are meant to treat.
Nearly 38,000 students across 124 schools gave valid responses to the survey, which was conducted from September to December last year.
Among those who admitted to abusing the drugs, the majority — around 64% — said they got them from pharmacies while a third said they had access to the medications in their own households. Respondents were allowed multiple answers for the question on where they sourced the drugs from.
In view of these answers, the study urged pharmacies to pay closer attention when selling over-the-counter drugs to minors.
The study found that many of those who have engaged in such abuse tended to be isolated at home or in school, and had experienced psychological problems or other difficulties in their daily lives.
The same survey found that 0.07% of middle schoolers had experience using marijuana while 0.13% abused organic solvents; the percentages of respondents who admitted to abusing stimulants and other illegal drugs were both at 0.06%.
Across all substances, the abuse rates among respondents last year are lower than those in 2022, most likely due to the fact that lives returned to normal after the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, the study warned that an increasingly positive view of marijuana and drug usage among this age group is something to be wary of.
The study asked middle schoolers about over-the-counter drugs for the first time last year. The inclusion comes amid a growing problem surrounding the abuse of, and addiction to, over-the-counter drugs such as cough medicine among teenagers and those in their 20s, which have resulted in cases of overdose and hospitalization.
The National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry's most recent survey of high schoolers in fiscal 2021 found that 1 in 60 had admitted to abusing over-the-counter drugs. Between 2012 and 2020, cases of addiction involving such drugs across all age groups had experienced a sixfold increase.
In recent years, information on how to abuse over-the-counter drugs — such as how much of a certain medication to consume — to achieve certain feelings has become widely available online and spread via social media among the younger generation.
