Pubdate: Mon, 02 Jan 2006
Source: Arlington Advocate, The (MA)
Copyright: 2006 Community Newspapers,sInc.
Contact:  http://www2.townonline.com/arlington/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3498
Author: Les  Masterson, Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone)

DRUG IS A SUBSTITUTE FOR ALCOHOL

Klonopin may be a new name for most Arlingtonians, but, according to 
police and doctors, the prescription anti-anxiety drug, has become an 
alternative to alcohol for teens.

Unlike alcohol,  which is easily detected on a person's breath, 
Klonopin (also called K-Pins) is  odorless.

"The schools have  been very effective in tackling the problems of 
the use of alcohol at school  functions," said Police Chief Fred 
Ryan. "What we're learning is that to counter  that effectiveness, 
kids are using substances like Klonopin to intoxicate  themselves. 
It's not as easily detectable." In addition to  Klonopin, police 
confiscated Ativan, Oxycontin, Valium, Xanax, Librium, Vicodin  and 
marijuana from a 16-year-old, who they arrested and charged with 
possession  of Class D and E drugs with the intent to distribute last Thursday.

About 500 of the  more than 1,300 pills recovered were Ativan, an 
anti-anxiety medication that  impacts chemicals in the brain and is 
prescribed to help people suffering from  anxiety, insomnia and 
seizures. Approximately 250 pills were Klonopin, according  to police.

Dr. Irwin Avery  at the Arlington Youth Consultation Center said 
taking Klonopin itself wouldn't  create a high. In fact, consuming 
huge amounts of the drug would actually cause  respiratory problems.

"If they took a  whole pile of Klonopin, they would probably pass 
out," said Avery. However, students  who reportedly took Klonopin 
last week, including the 17-year-old who committed  suicide, 
allegedly acted out violently. This makes Avery think that the 
teens  mixed Klonopin with other drugs, possibly PCP or Oxycontin, or alcohol.

"In and of  themselves, you won't get high from Klonopin. If you take 
it with uppers,  alcohol or any of those kinds of things, probably 
Oxycontin, you get (an  intense) type of high," said Avery.

Dr. Franca  Centorrino of McLean Hospital said the symptoms of a 
person high on Klonopin are  similar to a person who is drunk.

"The effects can  be very serious," said Centorrino. The doctor said 
abusing a drug like Klonopin can remove inhibitions and impair 
judgment. When  sober, a person may be able to control an underlying 
mood and, for example, not  get angry or violent. However, when under 
the influence of drugs or alcohol,  that barrier is removed.

"If you were  sober, you would have controlled that," she said of 
people who may get violent  because they don't have the mental 
barrier. Centorrino  doesn't think Klonopin abuse is new. The 
difference is that young people are now  getting their hands on the 
drug. Oxycontin was the drug of choice a couple of  years ago and the 
area was hit with a number of pharmacy robberies. Most  pharmacies, 
in turn, stopped offering Oxycontin. With that  roadblock in place, 
drug abusers moved onto more assessable drugs, such as  Klonopin.

Arlington police  found out, after fielding dozens of tips, that 
Klonopin is, in fact, "readily  available through a variety of 
sources," said Ryan. Last week's  arrests were not the police 
department's first brush with Klonopin. An Indian  Orchard man was 
arrested in September after he stole a car in Cambridge and took 
police on a chase through Arlington and Medford, part of which 
included a  witness being dragged by the vehicle while he held onto 
the doorframe. The chase ended  in the Roosevelt Circle rotary in 
Medford when the 36-year-old suspect drove the  wrong way and crashed 
into another vehicle and guardrail; police arrested the  man and 
reportedly found Klonopin on him.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman