Commonly misused/abused drugs

TABLE 4.2 Commonly Misused/Abused Drugs as Reported by the National Surveillance Agency Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN)... 

Table 4.1 shows the length of time that traces of popular drugs remain in the body. The most commonly misused and abused drugs are listed in Table 4.2. 

Ketamine is an anaesthetic drug used in both human and veterinary medicine. Because it is commonly abused due to its hallucinogenic effects, it is a class C controlled drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act. 

There is some evidence of a synergistic effect on reinforcement with concurrent administration of benzodiazepines and opioids (Walker and Ettenberg 2003). Cocaine abusers are less likely than opioid abusers to abuse benzodiazepines, preferring alcohol and opioids as secondary drugs of abuse. The most common pattern of benzodiazepine misuse in these individuals is intermittent use of therapeutic or supratherapeutic doses to counter unwanted effects of cocaine. 

Misuse of prescription drugs, including painkillers, is common among elderly people. However, unlike with younger people, when elderly people misuse or abuse prescriptions it is more likely to be accidental or unintentional. Since the body s ability to metabolize, or break down, many medications decreases with age, elderly people usually are prescribed lower doses of potent drugs than younger persons are. 

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