Skip navigation

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Prescription Drug Abuse

What is prescription drug misuse?

If you take a medicine in a different way than your health care provider prescribed, it's called prescription drug misuse. It could be:

  • Taking medicine prescribed for someone else.
  • Taking a larger dose than you are supposed to.
  • Taking the medicine in a different way than you are supposed to. For example, instead of swallowing your tablets, you might crush them and then snort or inject them.
  • Using the medicine for another purpose, such as getting high.

Misusing some prescription drugs can lead to addiction. These include opioids, sedatives, tranquilizers, and stimulants. Drug addiction is a chronic brain disease. It causes a person to take drugs repeatedly despite the harm they cause.

(Read more)

Results 1 - 10 of 175 for prescription drug misuse
  1. Prescription Drug Misuse (National Library of Medicine)  
    What is prescription drug misuse? If you take a medicine in a different way than your health care provider prescribed, it's called prescription drug misuse. It could be: Taking medicine prescribed for someone ...
  2. Trends and Statistics ... Prescription Drug Misuse/Statistics and Research ... Prescription Drug Misuse ... National Institute on Drug Abuse ... From the National Institutes ...
  3. How Can Prescription Drug Misuse Be Prevented? From the National Institutes of Health (National Institute on Drug Abuse)  
    Prescription Drug Misuse/Prevention and Risk Factors ... Prescription Drug Misuse ... National Institute on Drug Abuse ... From the National Institutes of Health ... Physicians, ...
  4. Substance Use and Military Life From the National Institutes of Health (National Institute on Drug Abuse)  
    Veterans and Military Health/Statistics and Research ... Veterans and Military Health ... National Institute on Drug Abuse ... Offers an overview of trends of drug use ...
  5. Pregnancy and Substance Use (National Library of Medicine)  
    ... be passed along to your baby during pregnancy. Prescription drug misuse Misusing prescription drugs can also be harmful. Misuse can include taking more than your prescribed dose ...
  6. Misuse of Prescription Drugs Research Report From the National Institutes of Health (National Institute on Drug Abuse)  
    Misuse of prescription drugs means taking a medication in a manner or dose other than prescribed; taking someone else’s prescription, even if for a legitimate ...
  7. ... as part of a court case. To prevent prescription drug misuse. If you take a prescription medicine that can ... and Addiction Opioids and Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) Prescription Drug Misuse Related Medical Tests At-Home Medical Tests Blood ...
  8. Prescription Stimulant Misuse and Prevention Among Youth and Young Adults (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) - PDF  
    Prevention, substance use, substance misuse, prescription drug misuse, prescription stimulants, attention-deficient hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), youth and young adults
  9. How Can Prescription Drug Addiction Be Treated? From the National Institutes of Health (National Institute on Drug Abuse)  
    Prescription Drug Misuse/Treatments and Therapies
  10. Which Classes of Prescription Drugs Are Commonly Misused? From the National Institutes of Health (National Institute on Drug Abuse)  
    Prescription Drug Misuse/Statistics and Research
previous · 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10 · next