“Percs” is street slang for Percocet, a pain pill you get with a prescription. It mixes the opioid oxycodone with acetaminophen, the drug in Tylenol. Doctors give it to treat pain after a broken bone or surgery.
A teen who takes Percocet to get high faces the risks of any opioid, plus a risk to his liver. Parents should know what the drug does, how to spot its use, and when a teen may need opioid addiction treatment for adolescents.
What Is Percocet?
Percocet is a tablet that contains two drugs. Each one contains 325 mg of acetaminophen plus 2.5, 5, 7.5, or 10 mg of oxycodone [1]. The label says it is for pain severe enough to need an opioid when other pain relief has not worked.
Oxycodone is the part that makes the drug risky. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) puts it in Schedule II, for controlled substances with real medical use and a “high potential for abuse.” It also comes on its own as a pill or in liquid form.
Percocet vs. OxyContin
Both drugs have oxycodone, but they are not the same pill. OxyContin has no acetaminophen and releases oxycodone slowly over about 12 hours. Percocet is an immediate-release product.
Our post on the slang term hillbilly heroin tells where that OxyContin name came from and what it means now.
What Percs Means and Other Street Names
Percs, sometimes spelled “perks,” is short for Percocet. The DEA lists “Perc” among the street names for oxycodone, along with names such as “Roxy” and “Oxy” [2]. Slang and code words change quickly, so a teen may use a word a parent has never heard.
Asking a teen calmly what a word means often tells a parent more than a web search. Some slang also refers to products that are not prescription drugs. Tianeptine, sold in some convenience stores, is often called gas station heroin.
Why Do Teens Misuse Percs?
The DEA notes that euphoria and feelings of relaxation are the most common effects of oxycodone on the brain. Opioids affect the brain’s reward system, so some teens take them for that feeling, not for pain. Others use them to cope with stress or with mental health problems such as anxiety.
Access is part of the picture. Some teens first find Percocet as leftover pills from a family member’s surgery or their own injury. Because it comes in pill form from a pharmacy, a teen may think it is safer than street drugs such as heroin or cocaine.
Prescription opioids also reach teens as syrups. Cough syrup with codeine, mixed into soda as a drink called lean, is one example.
In 2025, 1.6 percent of U.S. adolescents ages 12 to 17, or about 402,000 young people, misused prescription opioids in the past year [3]. The survey found no statistically significant change from 2021.
Utah’s 2025 student survey asked about lifetime use. It found that 0.8 percent of students in grades 8, 10, and 12 had ever misused prescription narcotics. Among 12th graders, the figure was 1.1 percent [4].
The Risks of Percocet Misuse
Percocet misuse carries two dangers: the opioid and the acetaminophen. A teen who takes extra pills raises both risks at once. Snorting or injecting tablets adds serious risks and can cause an overdose.
Tolerance, Dependence, and Overdose
With regular use, the body adapts to opioids. Tolerance means a person needs a higher dose to feel the same effect. Physical dependence means the body reacts with withdrawal when the drug stops.
Tolerance and physical dependence can occur during prescribed treatment and do not by themselves mean addiction. Percocet addiction involves loss of control and continued use despite harm. A teen may take pills more often, or more at a time, than prescribed.
The biggest danger is slow breathing, called respiratory depression. Breathing can slow so much that it stops. The label has a boxed warning for it.
A few things make slow breathing worse. Alcohol, Xanax and other benzodiazepines, and other substances that slow the body add risk. With them, the odds of severe respiratory depression and death go up.
Signs of an opioid overdose include being hard to wake, tiny pupils, slow breathing, and cold, clammy skin. Call 911 and give naloxone if you have it. If normal breathing has not returned after 2 to 3 minutes, give another dose with a new device. Follow the dispatcher’s instructions for rescue breathing or CPR. If he is breathing normally but unconscious, lay him on his side. Stay until help arrives, even if he wakes up. [5]
The Acetaminophen Danger
Too much acetaminophen can damage the liver. The label says most liver injury cases involve doses above 4,000 milligrams per day [1]. That is not a safe target for a teen. In severe cases, the liver can fail and lead to a transplant or death.
A teen chasing a high may take many pills without knowing the risk. Many cold and flu medicines also have acetaminophen, which adds to the total. If he may have taken too much, call Poison Help at 1-800-222-1222 right away, even if he feels well.
What Is a “Perc 30”?
There is no Percocet 30 mg tablet. The highest Percocet strength contains 10 mg of oxycodone. The term “perc 30” often refers to a blue pill sold as 30 mg oxycodone.
Many of these pills are fake and can contain fentanyl. The DEA warns people to “never trust your own eyes to determine if a pill is legitimate” [6]. Our post on the m30 pill explains why these pills are so dangerous.
Signs of Percocet Misuse in a Teenage Boy
Parents can watch for these clues that point to Percocet in particular:
- Missing tablets from a family prescription, or a refill that runs out early.
- Loose pills marked “PERCOCET,” or tablets with no label at all.
- Constipation, nausea, or vomiting with no clear cause.
- Heavy drowsiness or pinpoint pupils.
Withdrawal Symptoms Between Doses
Withdrawal can start when the pills run out. The label lists these common signs: restlessness, watery eyes, runny nose, yawning, sweating, chills, muscle aches, and large pupils [1].
Anxiety, low mood, insomnia, nausea, stomach cramps, diarrhea, cold flashes, and leg movements he cannot control can also occur. These symptoms can look like the flu. A pattern of feeling sick, then fine, then sick again is a reason to call a doctor.
Many of these clues overlap with the broader signs of opioid use in teens.
Behavior Changes
Repeated requests for early refills or pills from more than one prescriber can warrant a medical review. These behaviors do not prove addiction, and pain concerns should still be taken seriously.
Other changes are less specific. A teen may pull away from family, let chores and other duties slide, or seem focused on getting more pills. One sign alone proves little. If several changes concern you, call his doctor without waiting weeks.
What Parents Can Do
Start with the medicine cabinet. Count any Percocet or other opioids in the home, lock them up, and take leftover pills to a drug take-back site. The label warns that even one dose taken by mistake, above all by a child, can cause a deadly overdose.
Any pill that did not come from a pharmacy may be one of the fake pills pressed to look like real prescriptions. Keep naloxone at home, and talk with your son in a calm, direct way about what you have noticed.
If you see signs of misuse, ask his doctor for an evaluation. Do not stop a prescribed dose without that doctor’s advice. Treatment options for young people dealing with opioid misuse include:
- Outpatient counseling.
- Intensive outpatient programs, where a teen lives at home.
- Partial hospitalization, with treatment most of the day.
- Residential treatment, where a teen lives at the treatment center.
- Medication for opioid use disorder.
Some teens also have depression or anxiety, and dual diagnosis care treats both at once. The right level of care depends on how bad the problem is and what help the family needs. Getting expert care can raise a teen’s odds of long-term recovery.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Drug Is a Perc?
A perc is one Percocet pill, a prescription painkiller that has the opioid oxycodone in it. Doctors give this Schedule II drug for severe pain. If a teen takes it without his own prescription, or takes more than the doctor said, that is misuse.
Are Percs Like Xanax?
No, Percs are opioids for pain, and Xanax is a benzodiazepine for anxiety. But both slow the brain and breathing, so taking them together raises the risk of breathing problems and death. The Percocet label has a boxed warning about this mix.
Can a Teen Get Addicted to Percs If They Were Prescribed?
Yes, addiction can occur even during prescribed use, but tolerance and physical dependence alone do not mean addiction. Parents can lower risks by following the prescription, securely storing the medicine, overseeing doses, and taking leftovers to a take-back site.
If your son is using percs or other opioids, start with a doctor’s checkup. A clinician can help you weigh care while he lives at home, residential treatment, and medication. Speak with our admissions team today to talk through options for long-term support.
This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. If you think someone is having an overdose, call 911. For a mental health or suicide crisis, call or text 988. For free, confidential treatment referrals, call the SAMHSA National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357. For questions about a possible poisoning, call Poison Help at 1-800-222-1222.
Sources
- U.S. National Library of Medicine, DailyMed. PERCOCET (oxycodone hydrochloride and acetaminophen) tablet, prescribing information (label revised December 2025; DailyMed entry updated October 2, 2026). https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=4dd36cf5-8f73-404a-8b1d-3bd53bd90c25
- U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Oxycodone Drug Fact Sheet (posted January 2025). https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2025-01/Oxycodone-Drug-Fact-Sheet_0.pdf
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. 2025 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Annual National Report (July 2026). https://www.samhsa.gov/data/report/2025-nsduh-annual-national-report
- Utah Department of Health and Human Services. 2025 Student Health and Risk Prevention (SHARP) Survey, State of Utah Profile Report (2025). https://dsamh-training.utah.gov/_documents/SHARPreports/2025/State_of_Utah_Profile_Report.pdf
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, NIOSH. Responding to a Suspected Opioid Overdose (2019). https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/publications/numbered/2019-127.html
- U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. One Pill Can Kill (page updated October 5, 2026). https://www.dea.gov/onepill
