A survey of 12-to-17-year-olds conducted by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University revealed that teens are finding it increasingly easy to obtain prescription drugs, and "problem parents" may be contributing to their teens' drug use, the Washington Post reported August 14.

When asked "Which is easiest for someone your age to buy: cigarettes, beer, marijuana, or prescription drugs such as OxyContin, Percocet, Vicodin or Ritalin, without a prescription?" 19 percent responded that it was easier to find prescription drugs, compared to 13 percent one year ago. Marijuana remains an easy-access drug for teens, with 43 percent of seventeen-year-olds claiming the drug could be purchased within an hour.

The study also found a correlation between the degree of parental awareness of their teenager's nighttime activity and an increase in illegal and prescription drug use. Of those teens out after 10 pm, one half claim to be with people smoking and taking drugs.

"Half of the teenagers were saying they were out on school nights, but only 14 percent of the parents knew that they were out," said Elizabeth Planet, CASA's director of special projects and the study's coordinator. "There are lots of factors at play here. Parents are not paying attention. There are parents who are out in the evening themselves. There are parents out at work."

Joseph Califano, chairman and president of the center, warns of the danger of parents becoming "passive pushers," as evidenced by the statistic showing that 34 percent of teenage prescription drug abusers obtain them in the home.

"This is a very different generation of children," said Stephen Pasierb, the president of Partnership for a Drug-Free America. "Prescription drugs are entrenched, and they have not moved for five years, and this generation of parents simply [does] not understand the problem."