Teen trend: Steal meds

Study says one in five teenagers abuses prescription medication
BY HALLIE WOODS

For Lupe Vasquez getting high was as easy as sneaking into her parents' medicine cabinet or asking her friends to pass the pills.

She couldn't tell you if she was taking Percocet, Vicodin or Oxycontin, but she knew popping a couple pills always gave her a good feeling.

"It makes you feel numb," said Vasquez, a 15-year-old sophomore at Poudre High School. "It would take away all the pain from things around me."

Vasquez is among a growing number of teens and young adults who participate in a phenomenon called "pharming," or using prescription drugs for recreational use.

According to the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, one in five teens abuses a prescription pain medication, while one in 10 reports abusing cough medicine.
Easy access

Dr. Hermann Moreno, a staff psychiatrist at Mountain Crest Mental Health Services, said that because prescription drugs are technically legal, it is much easier for teens and adults to take the pills without thinking they are doing anything wrong.

"A lot of (drug) stealing is because there is some sort of unconscious message in the family that some degree of substance abuse is OK," Moreno said. "Society in general sometimes gives that same message."

Prescription drugs are legal for those to whom they are prescribed, but it is illegal for anyone else to use those drugs, even within a family, Moreno said.

In 2006, abuse of prescription painkillers was second only to marijuana as the nation's most prevalent illegal drug problem, according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
Pharm parties

Even more nerve-wracking for parents, some teens talk of participating in "pharm parties" where kids mix pills together like a Chex mix and wash them down with alcohol.

"If you mix them, it gives you a better high," Vasquez said.

Kids don't know what they're taking, or how much they are taking, a dangerous, even deadly, combination.

According to a Larimer County Sheriff's Office report, a Fort Collins mother reported missing seven bottles of prescription medication after her two teenage sons threw a party when she was not home.

The mother reported missing at least 45 pills of Concerta, two bottles of Percocet and four bottles of Vicodin after her sons threw the party.

Some rehabilitation professionals said illegal use of pharmaceutical drugs is increasing because they're increasingly more available.

"People use them because they are easy to get," said Shelby Romero, a 16-year-old sophomore at Poudre High School.

Most commonly, teens are taking painkillers such as morphine, Percocet and Oxycodone, antidepressants such as Valium or Xanax, or stimulants like Ritalin.

"As parents and teachers, we need to be concerned about living in a culture that is stuck with their hand on the happy button," said Johnny Mason, a substance abuse counselor at Rocky Mountain High School.

Vasquez said she stopped using prescription drugs when her cousin, another Poudre High School student, committed suicide in May 2006, just shy of her 16th birthday.

Vasquez said her cousin was unhappy and used prescription drugs to numb her pain.

"I had been close to overdosing," she said. "It was just stupid."

Suicide can be linked to substance abuse, Moreno said.

"If a parent becomes aware that this is going on, they should seek help," he said.

SOURCE: Coloradoan, May 5, 2008