Pharmacy News EU

Jul. 19York County parents unwittingly contribute to the latest substance abuse fad among teens by keeping the drugs handy at home, according to police and youth counselors.
Officials say teenagers are raiding medicine cabinets for prescription drugs, especially painkillers, then abusing the pills with friends.
And in York County, where drug overdoses have more than doubled since 2006, officials say prescription painkillers are becoming most popular in middle- to high-income, family-friendly developments.
The pills which sell on the black market for $10 to $15 each, depending on their strength have become the "drug of choice" for affluent families and college students ages 18 to 20, said Marvin Brown, senior commander of the York County Multijurisdictional Drug Enforcement Unit.
Brown said prescription drug abuse has surged in Fort Mill.
Of the 62 prescription drug charges reported in York County since January, more than half the arrests were made in the Fort Mill Township, which also encompasses Tega Cay and unincorporated areas such as Lake Wylie, Brown said.
Police have filed 34 charges for selling or illegally possessing prescription drugs in the Fort Mill area since January. That compares to 28 charges in Rock Hill, York, Clover and all of western York County combined.
The average home value in Fort Mill is about $160,000, according to numbers from the county tax assessor’s office, compared to home values in Rock Hill, which average $100,000.
Brown noted the pills probably are attractive to high-income users because prescriptions don’t carry the stigma of illicit drugs found more frequently on the streets. He said people especially like to take OxyContin because the bottle indicates how much opiate is in the pill, which makes them "seem safer" to take in large doses, compared to illicit drugs.
"They’ll tell you ‘No, I would never touch heroin,’ like it’s a dirty drug," Brown said of prescription drug abusers. "But OxyContin is nothing more than heroin in pharmaceutical form."
Overdoses climb
Fourteen people died from drug overdoses in the county from January to June of this year, averaging two deaths every month, according to numbers from the York County Coroner’s Office. Toxicology reports are pending for July investigations.
Of those overdoses, nearly all occurred from mixing prescription drugs with illicit ones, Brown said. The youngest death from an overdose so far this year is 19, and the oldest is 50.
"We’re having a problem with prescription drugs. We’re having a problem with painkillers. But the overdoses are coming in when they’re mixing the drugs," Brown said.
"They’re not dying from OxyContin. They’re dying from the mixture."
Numbers from the York County Sheriff’s Office show 25 drug overdoses were reported in 2006. The following year, that number rose to 32, and the sheriff’s office responded to 40 overdoses in 2008.
Overdoses can end in death or hospitalization and usually are signaled by foaming at the mouth and visible injection sites, York County Coroner Sabrina Gast said.
Wealthy teens at risk
Dr. Dara Josiah-Howze, a child and adolescent psychiatrist in Fort Mill, worked six years in Chicago dealing with prescription drug abuse among young people.
Josiah-Howze gets referrals every day to her clinic on Claeborne Street, and she’s seeing around 30 teens who consult with her once every month. The teens are either court-ordered to seek help, or they’re recommended by emergency rooms that have treated them.
Some parents drive the teens in from Rock Hill and Lancaster, but the doctor said the bulk of her clients are from affluent neighborhoods in Fort Mill and Tega Cay.
"Their families are insured," she said about those teens, who are between ages 14 and 17, mostly white and mostly male. "Their parents can afford to go to the doctor and get better medication, like Valium and OxyContin. And that’s where the kids are getting them."
Josiah-Howe said kids raid medicine cabinets for pills prescribed to their parents and to themselves. They’re able to sell both at school.
Some teens have told the Fort Mill doctor that they avoid taking their own Adderall used for attention deficit disorder so they can sell it. The teens report selling the drugs for as little as $1 apiece.
And after school, many teens have admitted hosting "Skittle parties," where they invite dozens of their friends to combine the pills they’ve stashed in a bowl, then draw a random handful of the tablets to take throughout the evening.
Josiah-Howze noted many parents forget about their doctor-prescribed painkillers, left over from injuries, surgeries and other diagnoses. The pills at "Skittle parties" range from prescription painkillers to birth control pills and over-the-counter cough medicine.
One issue is that wealthier teens tend to have a sense of entitlement, Josiah-Howze said: "They’re used to getting what they want. When they don’t get what they want, they turn to drugs. Then they also feel entitled to their parents’ medicine cabinets."
Teens treated
Jane Alleva, community relations director for Keystone Substance Abuse Services in Rock Hill, said prescription drug abuse has been a "growing reason" people come for treatment at the center’s detox programs and focus groups. Many of them are teenagers.
Keystone, a nonprofit agency, gives prevention and treatment services to county residents who have substance abuse and chemical dependency problems.
Two hundred teens came through the center on Herlong Avenue last year for drug and alcohol abuse treatment, and 30 teens currently are enrolled for the services.
"When our counselors ask these kids what the biggest problems are among people their age, they say alcohol first, prescription drugs second," Alleva said.
Keystone received a $35,000 state grant this month to pay for a staff member to focus on prescription pill abuse prevention. That person will help parents understand the importance of throwing away or locking up prescription medication and will talk with physicians and pharmacies about the consequences of giving surplus pills to patients in pain.
Addicts of all ages have found creative ways to get their hands on medication illegally, Alleva said. Some rummage through dumpsters for old prescription bottles, while others check newspapers for real estate open houses and wakes at the homes of deceased cancer patients anywhere they suspect a medicine cabinet will be stocked.
"On the prevention side, we’ve got to spread the word about disposing of these pills properly or locking them up," Alleva said.
"Imagine if a 15-year-old got his hands on a 65-year-old’s medicine cabinet. Then imagine if a drug dealer did."
Peer pressured teens who spend time with other people who abuse prescription drugs, and they feel they have to.
Academically gifted teens who take stimulants, called "study pills," to do better on tests.
Depressed teens who self-medicate with stimulants to feel happier.
Dr. Dara Josiah-Howze, a child and adolescent psychiatrist in Fort Mill
To see more of The Herald, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.heraldonline.com.
Copyright (c) 2009, The Herald, Rock Hill, S.C.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.