College students are turning to a new type of drug to get high.
Although alcohol and marijuana remain the substances most likely to be misused by college students at 87 and 49 percent respectively, prescription medications are close behind at 31 percent.
The annual Monitoring the Future study, regarded as the gold standard for tracking drug trends among American students, reports 14.4 percent of college students misused Vicodin or some other prescription narcotic at least once in 2005, up from 13.8 percent in 2004.
Misuse of tranquilizers or downers, such as Xanax, jumped to 11.9 percent, up from 10.6 percent in 2004.
Use of the stimulant Ritalin dropped, from 4.7 percent in 2004 to 4.2 percent in the past year.
Doctors often prescribe Vicodin, a narcotic similar to Percocet and OxyContin, to patients with severe pain. Xanax, a central nervous system depressant, is often used to treat anxiety or panic attacks.
Ritalin and Adderall are commonly prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD. All possess the potential for abuse.
"This is a rising epidemic," said Dr. John Knight, founder of the Center for Adolescent Substance Abuse Research at Children's Hospital Boston.
"Everyone is a little unclear on how to deal with this," Knight said in Atlanta on Oct. 8 during a speech to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Although University health officials don't have concrete numbers on increases on campus, they believe the pattern holds true in Athens.
The University Health Center counsels students who abuse prescription medications. These students tend to have problems with alcohol or illicit drugs as well, said Erin English, the center's alcohol, tobacco and other drugs health educator.
English didn't have data on drug abuse at the University but said students have told staff that prescription stimulants and narcotics are becoming bigger on campus.
Signs of misuse include upping dosage, injecting or snorting meds or asking for early refills, said Dr. Sharon Levy, Knight's colleague and co-presenter at the pediatrics conference.
A student prescribed Ritalin for ADHD may take extra pills so he can pull an all-nighter before an exam, said Levy, a pediatrician and instructor at the Harvard Medical School researching adolescent substance abuse.
Occasional misuse can lead to more serious drug abuse, such as grinding up Ritalin and snorting it. When abuse escalates to this level, young people may go missing from school, home or work, endanger their health or get into legal trouble, Levy said.
Because prescription medications are easy to get online or through parents and friends, their potential for abuse increases, said Levy.
And some students mistakenly assume these drugs are safe because doctors prescribe them, according to a study published in April in The New England Journal of Medicine.
Health experts said students who abuse these drugs can be hard to spot.
"You can't tell by looking at someone whether they're using or abusing. You have really functional drug abusers and addicts out there," English said.
Some students said they weren't surprised that prescription medications are making the rounds on campus.
Jo Lee, a senior from Thomasville, said Adderall, Paxil and Prozac are prescription drugs students abuse.
Lee said people sometimes take prescription medications before they go out and mix them with drinks, while others pop Adderall to study.
"I would say Adderall would be the biggest," she said.
And it's not hard to get. Students with prescriptions will sell pills for $5 or $10 each to earn extra cash, Lee said.
Jeremy Vig, a senior from Lawrenceville, said he has noticed students misusing prescription medications such as Adderall, speed-type drugs and pain pills.
"I'm sure everyone knows finals week is the big week that people are looking for that kind of stuff," Vig said.
English said students concerned about their drug use should get a professional, confidential evaluation available through the counseling and psychiatric services at the University Health Center.
"It's very easy for people with abuse or addiction problems to rationalize their problem, which makes it hard for them to see that there is a problem."