The Rate of Young Accidental Overdoses have Recently Increased Because Prescription Medication Abuse is Now on the Rise. Why are prescription medications quickly becoming the most abused drug throughout today's youth. Dr. Nora D. Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, estimates that forty eight million people misuse prescribed medicine. That is about twenty percent of the United States population (1). Maybe because these medications are fairly easy to posses, no matter of the age trying to acquire them. It is less expensive than street drugs such as ecstasy, marijuana, or cocaine. A thought of prescription pills may be less addictive and entertaining as well. Some people may also find drugs in their medicine cabinet to be more safe than street drugs. Most people at some point in life are appointed medicine, whether it is for pain relief, depression, lack of sleep, or help to lose weight or even study. Who would think that they would get into trouble from having a few pills in their car or even in their bodies? According to the website, Illinois Drug Laws, the state of Illinois, For the first non-prescribed pill a person possesses while getting arrested, a felony will be given, a fine up to $100,000.00, and up to three years in prison. For every pill after that a second felony will be given, a fine up to $200,000.00, and up to five years in prison. If being caught with in 1500 feet of a school, church, public park, or movie theater the court can double the fine and sentencing of the penalty (1). So why are the numbers of teenage overdoses from prescribed medicine inclining yearly? An addict is someone who is dependent on a substance physically, emotionally, or even mentally. Abuse is to wrongly use or handle a substance. An overdose can be a combination of things, such as taking a large quantity of pills. Some overdoses may be accidental or may even be on purpose. The number of deaths caused by maltreatment of medicine have increased by about three times as many since 1997 (Szabo, 1). The government has noticed these addit...