Teenagers and Prescription Drugs


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A Dangerous New High

When Amanda was 14 years of age she had the last of four sinus surgeries. The best part of the whole process, according to Amanda, was that she received hydrocodone or a common pain pill called Vicodin, Lortab, Norco, etc, every time. She took some of the pills for her pain and brought the rest, along with some medications she’d stolen from her mom, to parties at her friends’ houses. There, she and her friends would get high on those and other prescription drugs. Forget BYOB. For some teenagers, parties today are of the bring-your-own-pills variety.

Teenagers today will bring whatever they can get their hands on: Vicodin, Percocet, Percodan, Oxycontin and other pain killers; antianxiety medications like Xanax, Valium, Klonopin, Ativan; stimulants like Adderall and Ritalin; and over-the-counter (OTC) drugs. Then they begin the dangerous game of prescription drug and OTC roulette.

These gatherings are called “pharming parties”, and they can be destructive and deadly. These parties are taking place in living rooms and basements across the country. At some parties, the teenagers toss their pharmaceutical offerings into a communal bowl, called the “salad bowl”, grab an assortment as if the pills were M&M’s and knock them back, usually with alcohol. At others parties it can be more organized, with bartering and negotiations. Someone will say, “I have an X, which is harder to get. You will have to give me three of what you have to get one of what I have.”

Alarming New Trend

The abuse of prescription drugs, a practice known as “pharming”, is rampant among middle and high school students. According to a 2005 report from Columbia University’s National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA), 2.3 million kids ages 12-17 abused prescription drugs in 2003. More recent studies indicate that the trend is escalating.

What’s frightening is that so many kids are doing it and parents are completely unaware. This problem is not on the parent’s radar. But it should be: A National Institute on Drug Abuse survey estimates there’s been a 25% increase each year since 2001 in the use of sedatives and barbiturates among high school seniors.

These “pharming parties” are the cool thing to do according to many teenagers. Technology, in part, is to blame. Technology is allowing kids to communicate more often and quicker making the passing on of information easier.

Kids aren’t looking for any specific medication. Conventional wisdom used to be that it was an Oxycontin problem. Most authorities know now that it has nothing to do with the brand of medication. Teenagers admit that the newer the product, the more interesting. Kids will take it and figure out how to mix it with other things to get a different kind of high. Kids want to know how to get high quicker, faster and they want to find the best buzz. That’s why they combine the drugs with one another and with the alcohol and illegal drugs such as marijuana – sometimes with fatal results.

Deadly Doses

Approximately five years ago, when I was practicing medicine in the state of Michigan, I lost an 18 year old male patient to the lethal combination of beer and methadone, a potent prescription narcotic.

The patient was staying with friends for the night. He talked with his parents over the phone around 10:30PM. This was the last time his parents would ever talk to him. His friends found him unconscious the next morning. They rushed him to the Emergency Room where I got involved in his care. We worked on him for over 90 minutes but he finally went into cardiac arrest and died.

Prescription drugs are pretty safe when used correctly. But kids take risks without fully comprehending the consequences. An example: Oxycontin. As prescribed, it’s a perfectly legitimate pain medication. As the pill dissolves, it gradually releases its payload, for long lasting pain relief. But teens will often crush the pill before ingesting it or even snorting it, releasing all the medication at once. One pill could lead to overdose.

Even worse, kids rarely take just one pill. Many of the drugs at a “pharming party” are depressants, which slow down brain activity. Now add alcohol, another depressant, to the mix. All decrease brain activity, and they enhance one another. So a Vicodin-Ambien-Xanax-booze combination can be extremely dangerous. It can do more than put you to sleep – you can be put to sleep permanently.

If you combine depressants with stimulants, on the other hand, heartbeat, blood pressure and other systems in the body will start careening up and down. The heart doesn’t like this. When you start pushing the heart around, there could be the danger of arrhythmia. It could progress to a point where the heart is working inefficiently, and then you may have trouble. Things may start collapsing or stopping.

As a physician I am concerned that these young people are taking these drugs while their brains are still forming. These kids are in a fairly critical stage of brain development. Their decision-making skills are being honed. When you disturb that physiology with pharmacology over and over again, the brain may not reach its capacity and may not mature fully. Their ability to make decisions and process information will be compromised, maybe for the rest of their lives.

Why Prescription Drugs?

About 5 million school-age children take a prescription drug every day for some sort of behavior disorder. As a result, kids learn at an early age that if you take a pill, you get a mood change. And many teens view “pharming” as safe, since the drugs are of pharmaceutical quality. This is a frightening myth that can have fatal consequences.

Of course, OTC drugs are also welcome at “pharming parties.” Kids abuse cold medications made with dextromethorphan, or DXM. Instead of 1-2 pills recommended, they’ll take 2-3 boxes’ worth at a time, to create a drug-induced psychosis.

What About the Parents?

Most parents have no idea that their child is addicted. When some parents find out that their kids are abusing prescription drugs, breathe a sigh of relief. They think, Oh, at least my child isn’t smoking pot or doing heroin.

But prescription drugs can be more potent than street drugs. One in ten 12th graders admits to using Vicodin at least once in the last year. If I said one in ten kids is using heroin, people would go through the roof. But while heroin sold on the street might be 10-40% opiate, pharmaceutical-grade Vicodin could be 10x more powerful an opiate than heroin.

Spiraling out of Control

Many kids are taking these drugs because they find life hard to take. Many are also proud of their drinking and drugging activities. They also think that young people can’t get addicted and that young people will not go through withdrawals – obviously these statements are false.

I want people who are getting into drugs to know how bad it can get and to let them know that there is a way out!

 

JustSayKnow

This BOOK and many others are available to help you or someone you love:

Just Say Know

Whether you battle with drugs, nicotine, alcohol, pornography, gambling, or any other habitual sin, God’s answer is to just say know. You may learn all the facts about addiction that society could ever teach, but this fact remains true: it’s not what you know, it’s Who you know. Jesus said, and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Jesus Christ can make you free. He can break through the doubts, despair, and depression of your life.This book will remind us who we are as children of God. As children of God, we have been offered many things in Christ Jesus. Among them are life, liberty, and eternal happiness. If these wonderful gifts seem out of reach, it could be the biggest mistake of our lives to underestimate their availability to us. In an effort to explain our easy access to the abundant Christian life, I want to help you understand the battle that is going on for your mind. This one battle is the battle of all battles. It is the battle that our victory is most predicated upon.With this battle won, victory is eminent. To be alive and free in Christ is the birthright of every Christian. May we learn to reject the deceiver’s offer to exchange our birthright for a temporary filling of a particular pleasure. About the Author – Dr. George T. Crabb, D.O . Dr. Crabb is a long-standing member of Antioch Baptist Church in Warren, Michigan, where his father is the founder and pastor. He is an ordained minister and holds the office of Chairman of the Deacon Board. Dr. Crabb also teaches an adult Sunday school class and serves as Superintendent of Antioch Baptist Academy. Dr. George Crabb is board certified in internal medicine. He served at the Physician Medical office in Rochester Hills, Michigan, William Beaumont Hospital, and St. John Oakland Affiliation. He is a member of the American Society of Addiction Medicine.


2 responses to “Teenagers and Prescription Drugs”

  1. I hate to leave a comment like this on such a topic but I was just saying hi to all our Blog roll members. Wanted to let you know that the KJV Blog Directory has officially relaunched with 2 Great Giveaways going on.  We’d love for you to stop and check it out.  http://www.kjvblogs.blogspot.com

  2. Dr Crabb is a wonderful servant of the Lord. He is a true example of compassion that was exhibited by Christ when he saw the multitudes. We love you and appreciate your stand and your heart for our Saviour. Keep on keeping on for Christ. Walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.

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