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They say more kids are popping random pills stolen from their parents’ medicine cabinets or purchased online or from friends.
“I liken it to Russian roulette with pharmaceuticals rather than a gun,” said John Johnson, Franciscan Skemp Healthcare director of pharmacy. “Without knowing what you’re taking, you’re opening yourself up to all sorts of potentially lethal consequences.”
U.S. teen misuse of prescription drugs grew 212 percent from 1992 to 2003, according to a July 2005 report from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. That growth is 2.6 times greater than for those 18 and older in the same time period.
While only a handful of kids were taking prescription meds five or six years ago, they are now the drug of choice for many, said counselor Todd Hoffe.
The abuse of pharmaceutical and over-the-counter drugs has steadily increased, making it the third most abused substance in the teen patients Hoffe sees at Hoffe Counseling in La Crosse. Only marijuana and alcohol are used more.
“We have not seen an increase through referrals to our department from law enforcement,” said Wayde Anger, supervisor of Juvenile Justice Services for La Crosse County. However, Anger said he’s heard there is a lot of prescription and rave drug use through kids ages 17 and younger that his department sees.
“They say it’s amazing how many people are using,” he said.
Teens see the pharmaceuticals as safer than illegal drugs, said Heather Quackenboss, Coulee Council on Addictions prevention specialist in La Crosse. And they’re more readily available.
Quackenboss said they even resort to phoning in someone else’s prescription, get diagnosed for a particular prescription and forge prescriptions.
Teens have even told Hoffe they pretend their car has run out of gas and go to a nearby house for assistance. While one places a phony call to a tow truck, the other takes a bathroom break and steals pills from prescription bottles.
The drugs often often are downed with vodka at outdoor parties or in family homes — sometimes with parents in the house, Hoffe said.
Some teen get-togethers, known as “pharming parties” in the media, have a cover charge of pills that are placed in a large bowl creating “trail mix,” Quackenboss said.
Some pick and choose, searching for their favorites, often basing their decisions on colors recognized from past experiences, while others select random pills to see what their effects are.
“They want to get high. They don’t want to feel,” said Hoffe, whose office is in downtown La Crosse. “They are their own doctor mixing prescription medications that make them feel the way they want.”
But when taken in excess and mixed with other drugs, the prescription and over-the-counter medications could lead to serious and possibly deadly side effects, Quackenboss said.
“They might not wake up,” she said.
A pure high
Nearly one in five teens has tried a prescription medication such as Vicodin, OxyContin, Ritalin and Adderall to get high, and one in 10 report abusing cough medicine to get high, according to a May study by The Partnership for a Drug-Free America.
The study also says teens are more likely to have abused prescription and over-the-counter medications than illegal drugs.
Unlike marijuana that could be laced with cocaine or Ecstasy that might be combined with methamphetamine, pharmaceuticals are usually pretty pure, said La Crosse County Assistant District Attorney Todd Bjerke and La Crosse police Sgt. Cary Joholski said. That’s part of what makes them so appealing, they said.
Most users know what pills they like and exactly what it takes to get high, Bjerke said. And if someone wants to accelerate their high they know to crush or snort the pill, Joholski said.
But still, users are “taking their life into their own hands,” Bjerke said.
Even if kids are certain what container the pill came from, Johnson said, many are prescribed in specific doses and for certain weights.
Most parties include alcohol and marijuana, Quackenboss said. “Alcohol and sedatives are one of the most lethal combinations,” she said, because it slows or even shuts down the body.
Pill takers also can become addicted and increase the likelihood of being the victim of a crime including sexual assault and robbery, Quackenboss said.
In addition, many teens are taking more than one drug.
They get started with marijuana and then they raid the medicine cabinet, Hoffe said. Or they start with attention deficit disorder medication from classmates, and then fake injuries to get pain killers, he said.
And they’re doing it earlier.
The average age of first-time drug use in patients Hoffe sees has dropped from 16 to 17 in 1998 to 14 to 16 in 2006.
Mark Taylor, a Gundersen Lutheran program therapist who works in La Crosse and Prairie du Chien, Wis., said he has seen a bit of an increase in prescription drug abuse this past year among his adolescent patients, as well as the use of rave drugs that rise and fall, depending on supply. “But most kids I see are into alcohol and marijuana,” Taylor said.
Joholski said he has seen a lot of prescription drugs moving on the La Crosse streets.
Being proactive
Quackenboss said if kids are abusing pharmaceuticals or over-the-counter medications, parents can identify the problem before it’s too late.
They may notice changes in the teen’s behavior, mood or friends. Teenagers may be looking forward to weekend parties and focus only on going out.
“But any change in your child is reason for concern,” Quackenboss said. “Teens hide things so well from their parents.
Parents need to watch their prescriptions and discard any medication they aren’t using, she said.
“A lot call and say ‘I should have known,’” Hoffe said of the phone calls he gets from parents seeking help.
“Parents need to network and work together. If John’s going someplace at 7 he’d better by there by 7 and home by 11, and parents need to check up,” Hoffe said.
La Crosse School District Nursing Coordinator Lynda Narish Johnson said prescription medications are highly guarded and regulated at local schools.
Parents are asked to deliver the drugs to the health office in the original medication container with a written note from the doctor, Narish Johnson said. The meds are then stored in a locked cabinet and administered by trained health assistants, she said.
Parents also are asked to make arrangements for medication retrieval, as the drugs will not be sent home with students without prior discussion, Narish Johnson.
“We are very much aware of what’s going on” with prescription drug abuse and “it concerns us,” Narish Johnson said. “We’re really cautious.”
Johnson, of Franciscan Skemp, said pharmacies have established safeguards that protect pills such as OxyContin and Dilaudid.
These schedule II, controlled substances cannot be refilled without a physician writing a new prescription.
“A patient can’t call and say I want my OxyContin refilled. We require a new prescription every time,” he said.
Pharmacies also are monitoring the use of these medications by their patients.
“If someone overutilizes (a medication), we certainly contact the providers,” Johnson said.
But pharmacists are just as concerned about unused medications prescribed for legitimate medical purposes that are kept, finding their way into the hands of others.
Johnson said when patients are done using a medication they should dispose of the unused portion — no matter what.
Autumn Grooms can be reached at (608) 791-8424 or agrooms@lacrossetribune.com.
FREQUENTLY ABUSED DRUGS
Painkillers: Oxycontin, Percocet, Vicodin, morphine, Codeine and Talwin.
Stimulants and amphetamines: Ritalin and Adderall. These are prescribed to treat ADD, ADHD and narcolepsy.
Sedatives (depressants, hypnotics, benzodiazapenes): Xanax, Lorazeam and Valium. These are prescribed to treat anxiety, panic attacks and sleep disorders.
Source: Coulee Council on Addictions
LEGAL CONSEQUENCES
Abusing prescription drugs can land people in jail.
Possession of a schedule I or II narcotic such as Oxycontin or hydrocodone can result in a felony charge carrying a 3½-year prison term, said Todd Bjerke, La Crosse County Assistant District Attorney.
And that doesn’t include prior convictions, intent to deliver or obtaining prescription drugs by fraudulent means — charges that could accompany the possession charge, he said.
HOW TO DISPOSE OF PILLS
Flushing pills down the toilet or sink — into the septic waste stream — is highly discouraged, according to the
La Crosse County Health department. Instead people should try returning medications to pharmacies or “crush, grind and mix the pills in with other garbage.”
HOW TO FIND HELP
