The definition of prescription drug abuse is the use of a drug in a manner other than that prescribed, by a person for whom it was not prescribed, to achieve a particular experience. Many people, but especially teenagers and young adults, have started abusing prescription drugs. Some people have a higher genetic risk of becoming addicted to drugs, but environmental factors such as economic level, lack of work and peer pressure also have a significant impact. The abuse of these drugs has harmful side effects for the person abusing them, but it can also affect the people around them. They are more likely to have difficulties in many areas of their lives, including problems with family, friends or colleagues. Abusers often go to the doctor or go to several doctors to get prescriptions from each of them so they can get a large supply of their drug. They are also more likely to get into trouble with the law because of buying drugs on the street or because of a greater tendency to steal in order to buy more. People who abuse prescription drugs are more likely to steal them from family members or friends who have been prescribed the drugs. The most commonly abused prescription drugs are painkillers. Throughout history, people have attempted to find ways to ease their pain with the earliest records dating back to the 4th or 5th century BC. As early as 3400 BC the Egyptians, Sumerians, Babylonians and Assyrians were cultivating the opium poppy. Hippocrates, the father of medicine, left records of pain-relieving treatments, which included the use of willow leaves and bark to treat headaches, fever and pain. In the 16th century, laudanum, which is opium prepared in an alcohol, in the middle of paper, is. "medical health". MD web. NP, 10 August 05. Network. 1 December 2011. .Zaccaria, Holly. “The illicit trade of prescription drugs is now an epidemic.” dispatch from Colombo 7 Feb 10, n. page Print.Rabiner, David. "Misuse and abuse of stimulant drugs; what do we know?" 18 4 2004: 1-3. Network. December 5, 2011. .Tucker, Cummings. "the history of painkillers." and how. Np, nd Web. 26 Oct 2011.. "Prescription Drugs: Abuse and Addiction." national anti-drug institute. Np, nd Web. 5 Nov 11."Oxycodone." Caesar. 25 2005: n. page. Network. December 5. 2011. .