I’m small and come in all different colors. I can be taken legally or illegally. I can be helpful or lethal. I’m depended on and expected to work miracles. What am I? If you guessed Skittles, you’re wrong.

Prescription drugs are all too familiar to many people and medicine cabinets. Many use them to help aid in sleep, headaches, depression and a number of other symptoms. One may think that using prescription drugs helps get rid of the symptoms one is feeling, but recently prescription drugs have proven to be more harmful than helpful.

More and more, prescription drugs are coming up in the news and health sections of medical and psychological pamphlets everywhere. Why even attempt to use them if their side effects list everything including a death warning?

These medicines are overused and need to be regulated and researched more before being made public. They are becoming more and more dangerous as the days pass and need to be tested more thoroughly in order to determine the correct side effects these drugs carry.

Students taking prescription drugs to stay awake, study or sleep can sometimes be helpful if taken correctly. However, the ever-growing problem of prescription drug abuse is often overlooked. This is due to the fact that many people remain unaware that many prescription drugs are addictive and can be very dangerous.

Dr. Rick Huang, a physician with Kaiser Permanente, explained how prescription drugs can turn out to be useless and can turn on you without any hesitation.

“Just because they may be prescribed to you by a doctor or an aid at the drugstore doesn’t mean they are 100 percent right for you,” Huang said. “Limiting them and using them wisely can help determine how they will affect your body.”

The Food and Drug Administration has strengthened the warnings and precautions sections in the labeling of OxyContin tablets, a narcotic approved for the treatment of moderate to severe pain. OxyContin contains oxycodone, a very strong narcotic pain reliever similar to morphine.

According to the FDA, in recent months, there have been numerous reports of OxyContin diversion and abuse in several states. Some of these reported cases have been associated with serious consequences, including death. After the incidents were reported, the manufacturer, Purdue Pharmaceuticals, issued a warning to physicians about this medication. Is this what it takes? Does someone have to die in order for something to happen?

Another pill nuisance that has made the news is Ambien. Ambien is the No. 1 sleeping pill in the United States, with 26.6 million prescriptions and $2.2 billion in sales last year, the New York Times reported. According to the FDA, Ambien has been linked to causing sleepwalking while on the medication. Many people have gotten behind the wheel or have sleepwalked through their homes, having no recollection of those actions.”I’ve been receiving so many complaints from Ambien,” Huang said. “I have so many patients who are college students, so I look out for their best interests and make them aware of the dangers of the pill.”

The FDA has received reports of other complex behaviors people have engaged in while using the drug, including talking on the telephone, having sex and eating. People will sleepwalk to their kitchens, eat everything in their fridges and have no idea what happened to their roast duck with mango salsa. This would cause a lot of problems if you couldn’t remember who you spoke to, what you ate or who you had sex with. These kinds of symptoms are ridiculous and prescription drugs need to be better regulated before being exposed to the public. Many college students use sleeping pills, and symptoms like these can only cause disaster and danger.

Rosa Pastran can be reached at [email protected]