Study: Kids abusing painkillers at 16

Among U.S. adolescents, misuse of prescription painkillers peaks at age 16, earlier than thought, a large survey reveals.

"If we wait until the last year of high school or college to take some kind of action that could prevent the misuse of opioid painkillers, it'll be a case of too little, too late," cautioned James Anthony of Michigan State University, study co-author.

Many experts consider "extramedical" painkiller abuse -- using powerful medicines such as OxyContin and Vicodin to get high rather than to relieve pain -- to be the country's most serious drug challenge. Some kids had already misused these drugs by age 13 or 14, or eighth grade, the researchers found.

The survey results appeared Monday in the online edition of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

While roughly one in 60 kids between 12 and 21 initiates prescription pain reliever abuse at some point, the risk for doing so was found to peak at about 2.5 percent by age 16. -- HealthDay