1 in 5 Teens Abuses Prescription Drugs

About 1 out of 5 high school students has taken a prescription drug that a doctor did not prescribe, a new survey finds. The government survey of risky teen behavior is conducted every two years. The 2009 survey was the first to ask about prescription drug abuse. It included 16,000 teenagers. The abused drugs included pain pills, attention deficit drugs used as study aids, and others. Use was highest among 12th graders. About 1 in 4 seniors said they had used a drug without a prescription. The Associated Press wrote about the survey.