It’s no secret that drug abuse can be harmful and dangerous. Most people think serious problems are only caused by "club drugs" — like ecstasy and GHB, and by "street drugs" — like heroin and cocaine.

What a lot of people don’t know is that prescription drug abuse (using medications for non-medical purposes) can be just as harmful — and just as dangerous. Just because they’re available at your local pharmacy, doesn’t make them safe if they are misused or abused.

Prescription medications can be helpful — even life saving — when used for treating injury and illness. They are to be used only when prescribed to you by a doctor or other healthcare professional. But when misused or abused, they can have devastating effects. Even when prescription drugs are unintentionally misused — for example, if you accidentally take more of your OWN prescription than you were directed to by your doctor — the effects can be very different from what you expected.

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