In the coming school year, addiction experts say they're anticipating a flood of teenagers addicted to Xanax as well as other sedatives from the class of drugs that treat anxiety known as benzodiazepines, also known as "benzos." Many teens think of Xanax as a more secure and more abundant alternative to heroin and prescription opioids that have similar effects of euphoria.

Experts in addiction warn that the medications children take, which are often located in their grandparents' or parents medicine cabinets, could be as dangerous as opioids, especially if combined with alcohol or other substances. It's even more difficult to quit the habit.

As with all addictive substances, Xanax online when used early increases the chance of becoming addicted later on in life. According to the U.S. Surgeon General's report for 2016 on alcohol and drugs almost 70% of teenagers who experiment with an illicit substance before the age of 13 will become addicted in the span of seven years as opposed to 27 percent of those who try their first illicit drug after the age of 17.

All over the country, prescription drug abuse in adolescents has drastically decreased over the last 15 years according to results of a survey released at the end of December, from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Results from the last survey show that just four percent of the high school students used prescription painkillers, which is which is a significant decrease in comparison to 2004, where more than 1 in 10 teens had misused opioids.

In actual fact the increasing number of high school students at about 26 percent for students in the class of 2014 an increase by 5 per cent from 1976have a zero tolerance to all drugs which includes tobacco, marijuana, and alcohol According to an historic study of survey results published in July.

Yet, addiction professionals are reporting an increase with regards to the amount of teenage addicts who are dependent to Xanax. Many of them are taking high daily dosages, often when combined with alcohol and opioids.

Treatment centers for addiction provide "the tip of the spear," said Sharon Levy, director of the treatment of addiction in adolescents in Boston Children's Hospital and lead writer of the adolescent drug use study. "We observe things first. Therefore, I'm not shocked that the rise in Xanax usage isn't yet evident in the national statistics as of yet."

"Adolescent benzo use has skyrocketed," Levy stated, "and more kids are being admitted to hospitals for benzo withdrawal because the seizures are so dangerous." However Levy said that far less children seek treatment for prescription opioid dependence.

"When I inquire if they're taking opioids, they reply"No. I would not touch it.'"

High Doses

Marc Fishman, an addiction psychiatrist and professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine He said that benzos are rapidly replacing opioids as the most commonly prescribed substance of abuse for adolescents he treats on a regular basis at Mountain Manor Treatment Centers in Baltimore and other Maryland places. Many of them are extreme high-dose drug users, he added.

Similar to opioids used for pain, benzodiazepines used to treat anxiety will eventually cease to work and users are forced to use higher and higher doses to attain the same effects. The kids who aren't able take the pills at home can purchase them from the dark internet or create the benzos they want in the bathtubs of their homes, he added.

Mentally ill people are at greater chance of getting addicted to opioids and Fishman noted that the link with mental health and prescription opioids is stronger.

Three FDA-approved drugs are offered to treat the symptoms of addiction to opioids. These are buprenorphine (most commonly marketed as Suboxone) methadone, buprenorphine and Vivitrol, which is a long-acting injectable drug which blocks the euphoric effects caused by alcohol and opioids.

However, there are no medications to ease cravings and withdrawal symptoms that are that are associated with addiction to benzodiazepine. Patients typically go to the residential treatment program where a physician slowly eases them off of the drug. If the medication is stopped too soon withdrawal from benzodiazepine could cause seizures or even death.

If you're a person who has overdosed on opioids, Narcan can be widely available and is able to be administered by emergency responders or family members and friends to stop the fatal respiratory depression caused by opioids. Similar drugs, such as flumazenil can reduce the respiratory depression caused by benzodiazepines however it is not widely accessible outside of hospitals.

Plentiful Supply

The growing use of Xanax and other benzodiazepines in teenagers and young adults in the past few years mostly is due to the reality that there are more of them available, Levy argued.

As more and more adults are being prescribed Xanax, Valium, Ativan and other benzodiazepines that reduce stress and promote sleeping "we're creating these vast reservoirs for kids to find," she added.

"That one idea -- that something is safe or beneficial or medical -- has launched many an epidemic in the past."

Sharon Levy, director of Adolescent addiction treatment BOSTON Children's Hospital

Another issue the other issue, she added, is that teenagers believe that benzos aren't dangerous because their parents take them. Most kids do not take the pills to induce a high, but they use them to be normal, Levy said. "Some patients ask me to prescribe Xanax to them so that they don't have to purchase it legally. They believe it's beneficial for them."

"That one idea -- that something is safe or beneficial or medical -- has launched many an epidemic in the past," Levy declared. "So, my colleagues and I are watching this with trepidation."