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04-30-2009, 08:11 AM
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WHITE MOUNTAINS - Many teens think prescription drugs are somehow safer than street drugs because they have been approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration).
A Taylor family knows differently. Their 16-year-old son, a straight A student, died last month of a prescription drug overdose.
"After word was passed around about his death, kids on My Space and Face Book (Internet sites) were saying he was a hero," Navajo County Drug Project Coordinator Debe Campbell said. "I talked to one of his friends online and told her this was a tragedy. It wasn't a martyrdom. It was sad that it happened and I told her not to let it happen to her."
Street drugs such as marijuana, cocaine and, particularly, meth have been the target of anti-drug campaigns for years.
A study has shown meth use has dropped in the past several years, Campbell said. That can be attributed, at least in part, by new laws in Mexico that have made it illegal to import ephedrine, a major ingredient for making the drug, into that country. Those laws have reduced meth production in Mexico, where 99 percent of that drug came from.
While meth use has decreased, the use of other drugs including heroin, has increased. At this time, Campbell said, the Snowflake/Taylor area has been identified by law enforcement as "the capital of heroin use" in the county.
What hadn't been identified as a problem while methamphetamine and other illicit drugs had the spotlight, was the abuse of prescription drugs. In one survey, prescription and over-the-counter drug abuse were four of the top six categories of drugs being abused.
The survey, compiled with information of students from seventh grade to 12th grade, showed that 37 percent of the respondents indicated they had tried marijuana and 20 percent had tried inhalants (gasoline, glue, aerosol propellants).
The next four were all prescription or over-the-counter drugs. The first two - prescription medications (19 percent) and prescription pain relievers (18 percent) - when totaled match the percentage of marijuana use.
Prescription stimulants at 10 percent and cough medicine at 10 percent round out the top six.
Other illegal drugs with the percentage of use are crack cocaine at 10 percent, ecstasy at 8 percent, meth at 8 percent; LSD at 6 percent; heroin at 5 percent, ketamin, an anesthetic used mostly on animals, at 4 percent and GHB at 4 percent.
"While we were making people aware of meth, no one was paying attention to prescription drugs and they were a huge problem," Campbell said. "In 2004, they wasn't even on the survey. It wasn't until 2006 that we started to realize prescription drugs were a real problem.
"We decided it was better to put out the fire before it got to be too big a blaze. We're targeting adults telling them to put their prescriptions in a safe place that their kids can't access."
"Parents are the No. 1 drug dealer," Campbell said, echoing an ad campaign from The Partnership for a Drug Free America - Arizona Chapter.
"They may have work done at the dentist (or a doctor) and get a prescription for a painkiller and only use one pill. Then they just put it away.
"How many times do we go back and check on those drugs? It's easy for kids to get to them and their parents wouldn't even know."
Cough medication is another easily accessed drug, mostly available over the counter at pharmacies and other places where cold remedies are found. The cough suppressant in such medicines as is dextromethorphan or DXM. It can bring on feelings of euphoria, hallucinations and distortions of color and sound. It also causes rapid heartbeat, high blood pressure, seizures, panic, confusion and even comas.
Abusers of cough syrup use as much as 25 times the recommended dose, Campbell said. That not only increases the effect of DXM but also provides a high dose of acetamenophen (Tylenol) which, when taken in excess, can cause liver damage instantly. That damage can't be reversed.
Most cough medicine have some DMX. Examples are Alka Seltzer Plus Cold and Cough Medicine, Dayquil LiquiCaps, Dimetapp DM, Robitussin cough products, Sudafed cough products and Vicks NyQuil.
Coricidin HBP Cough and Cold, reportedly containing the highest concentration of DMX, is also an over the counter drug that is popular with teens and pre-teens.
These cold medications are often sold in the tissue aisle, not in the pharmacy departments in larger stores. Campbell said kids will shoplift them, take the containers into the store's restrooms and consume them there, often leaving the packaging behind.
Although prescription drugs such as oxycodone, Ritalin, Vicodin, Valium may be drugs of choice with adolescent and young adult drug use, they don't just stop at those.
"Kids get (prescription) drugs through their friends or they may go to Grandma's (or another family member or friend) house and take one or two of the pills she takes," Campbell said. "They share them with their friends. That creates a problem because if they overdose, they can't even tell the staff in the emergency room what they have taken. Drug overdose cases outdo auto accidents as the number one reason people go to emergency rooms."
Because these drugs are legal, Campbell said, kids think they are safe. They have been FDA approved. The way they're used, however, is neither safe or legal.
Ritalin, used for ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), is effective in treating that disorder by calming the person down but is actually a stimulant when used by those without the disorder. Misuse of that drug is a big problem, Campbell said.
"(Sleeping medication) Ambien is also a problem," she said. "It's a time released pill but the kids crush it and then take it. They're getting the entire 12 hours dosage at once."
Sometime friends will get together for a "pharming" party at which they will throw any drugs they brought into a large bowl after which they take turns choosing some of the pills and consuming them. In colleges, students will get together for another type of party. They pour shot glasses of liquor and add drugs in the glasses. Because of the combination can be more powerful than either the pill or the liquor, this practice could be instantly lethal.
One of the reasons children and teens don't think prescription drugs are as bad to take as illegal drugs is the fact that these drugs are prevalent in their homes.
"They see their parents drink and Mom and Dad take regular prescriptions," Campbell said. "So they think it's all right.
"A source of prescription drugs is open houses. These are often still inhabited but the residents aren't there. While the parents are looking at the kitchen, their kids are checking out the bathroom for pills."
The average first time abuser is 12 years old, she said, questioning how safe an adult strength prescriptions is for children of that age. In fourth and fifth grades (nine and 10 year old kids), drug use is what kids are talking about.
In 2008, students in eighth grade, tenth grade and twelfth grade in Blue Ridge, Show Low and Winslow schools filled out a survey that was designed to chart drug use among students in those districts. Neither Snowflake/Taylor or Holbrook chose to participate, Campbell said.
The percentage derived from the surveys was compared with statewide numbers and some of the percentages for prescription drug use were startling. In Show Low High School, 50 percent of students said they had used prescription pain relievers and other prescription drugs while 25 percent reported using prescription stimulants and sedatives in the 30 days before they answered the survey. Alcohol use was reported by 62.5 percent of students and cigarettes and marijuana was reported by 50 percent of the students. Use of cocaine was reported by 37.5 percent and heroin use by 25 percent.
Reported use for Blue Ridge students was much lower for the 30 days before the survey. Prescription pain relievers were reportedly used by 20.5 percent of seniors; other prescription drugs at 21.7 percent; prescription stimulants by l.2 percent; and prescription sedatives at six percent. Alcohol use was reported by 41 percent; cigarettes by 16 percent and marijuana by 14.8 percent. None of the Blue Ridge students reported using heroin.
The numbers, especially for Show Low, were, as with all drug use in Navajo County, considerably above the state average, Campbell said. Kids report there is nothing to do, using that as an excuse to take drugs.
"These numbers are from out schools, not from the reservation," Campbell said. "We have to recognize we have a problem."
To help stop the abuse of prescription drugs, it's important for parents to dispose of drugs quickly and properly once they are no longer being used or are outdated. Campbell said new federal regulations state that people aren't supposed to flush them because that can get them into the ground water and eventually into drinking water. The best way to dispose of them is to take them to a pharmacy. Campbell said all Safeway stores in the area will take them and dispose of them properly. Silver Creek Pharmacy in Taylor also takes them. The drugs under that regulation are especially any schedule two drugs, the addictive drugs such as opiates.
If a person decides to put them in the trash, they need to crush them and mix them with coffee grounds or other unpleasant substances and then close them tightly in a bag. If that is a choice, Campbell said, it's important to destroy the prescription label since that can result in identity theft.
With those prescription drugs still being used as directed, Campbell recommends keeping them locked up. If that isn't practical, parents should take inventories of all drugs.
"It's not that you don't trust your kids but they have their friends over," she said. "If you do find some drugs missing, it will give you the opportunity to talk to them about drugs. This information is power and if your kids are empowered, they can make an informed decision. For more information on drug abuse, log on to www.navajocountydrugproject.com or PartnerUpAz.org, the web site for the Arizona chapter of The Partnership for a Drug-Free America.
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Source
Note the obligatory "DMX" reference ... the copy editor might have been on sleeping meds.
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