Pubdate: Fri, 16 Mar 2007
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA)
Copyright: 2007 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Contact: http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/letters/sendletter.html
Website: http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/28
Author: D. Aileen Dodd

TALK TO FOCUS ON TEENS' ABUSE OF PRESCRIBED DRUGS

She used them to stay awake longer, to study harder, to  lose weight, 
to lose herself. The pills were too easy  to get.

"I didn't have to call a dealer. All of my friends were  using," said 
Sara Johnson, 17, a Michigan student who  will speak to pharmacists 
and parents today about  prescription drug abuse by teens. "We would 
raid our  medicine cabinets. We would steal them from the  pharmacy. 
They were right in my classroom everyday."

Johnson and a metro Atlanta teen recovering from  prescription drug 
abuse will lend their voices of  experience to a discussion at the 
American Pharmacists  Association conference about how to keep the 
drugs out  of the hands of kids looking for an easy high.

The pharmacists are meeting at the Georgia World  Congress Center in 
Atlanta for a national convention.

According to a recent study by the White House Office  of National 
Drug Control Policy, more teens are abusing  drugs found in their own 
medicine cabinets than those  on the streets.

"Marijuana use is down, methamphetamine use is down,  steroid use is 
down," said Scott Burns, deputy director  for state, local, and 
tribal affairs for the federal  drug control office. "Just about 
every category of  substance abuse is down, except prescription 
drug  abuse, which has alarmingly increased ... about 150  percent 
over the last five years."

To help stop the abuse, the Office of National Drug  Control Policy 
will announce a partnership with the  American Pharmacy Association.

Together, they hope to educate parents about what they  see as a 
silent epidemic. They will even go as far as  asking parents to 
"childproof" their homes to keep  over-the-counter drugs away from their teens.

Teens and their visiting friends could easily go the  bathroom and 
"help themselves ... without you even  knowing it," said Winnie 
Landis, incoming president of  the pharmacists group.

Landis said pharmacists should be telling patients and  parents to 
hide their current medications and throw  away their old pills in 
containers partially filled  with water so the pills can no longer be used.

"A lot of the responsibility falls on the parent to  understand that 
this is a problem," she said.

Teens use prescription drugs like Adderrall and  Oxycontin because 
they think it is a safe high. Mixing  several drugs could cause 
seizures, coma and even  death, pharmacy officials said.

Johnson said she was able to hide her addiction from  her parents by 
avoiding them. She would pop pills by  the handful that were set out 
in a bowl like mixed nuts  at "pharming" parties without knowing what 
they were.  She went days without eating or sleeping.

"I didn't think I had a problem," she said. "I'm from  the suburbs. 
I'm a little Catholic school girl. I don't  do that kind of stuff."

States also are stepping up to take some responsibility  to stop drug 
abuse, too. Burns said 33 states have  initiated prescription drug 
monitoring programs so  doctors and pharmacists can track 
prescriptions on the  day they are written. That way, a teen can't go 
to more  than one doctor complaining of an ailment and get a 
prescription written by each one.

"Georgia is not one of [the states that track]," Burns  said said. 
"We hope they will be soon."

Stiffer controls may have helped Chase Sewell, 19, of  Marietta stay 
on track. He started using prescription  drugs at Wheeler High School 
"to feel comfortable in  his skin," he said.

That led to drinking and stronger drugs. Now he is  sober and working 
to keep other kids from abusing  prescription drugs.

"It's a growing epidemic," Sewell said. And for those  who are using, 
there is light at the end of the road.  "They can get better. I am 
proof of that. I'm back in  school. I'm working toward a career. I'm happy."

LEARN MORE

Pharmacists have databases that can help parents  identify pills 
found in their children's rooms. For  more information on 
prescription drug abuse, visit  www.theantidrug.com.
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