HELP!! Is My Child on Drugs??

The host of this HubPage and the webmaster of www.ismychildondrugs.com is a Police Officer in the Philadelphia suburbs and is a certified narcotics expert, working in the narcotics field for over 14 years. The information provided on this site is intended for informational purposes as a guide for concerned parents, family members and school personnel.

* There are many stages of drug abuse, ultimately leading to difficulty in managing one's life as a result of using drugs.

* Individuals who begin using drugs as juveniles are at greater risk of becoming addicted compared to those who begin drug use as an adult due to the immaturity of the teenage brain, particularly of that part of the brain that controls impulses.

* The symptoms of drug abuse include tolerance to a substance, withdrawal episodes, using more drugs for longer periods of time, and problems managing life issues due to the use of a drug.

* Substance abuse is caused by a number of individual, family, genetic, and social factors rather than by any one cause.

* Although a number of genes play a role in the development of substance abuse, this is a disease in which other factors more strongly influence its occurrence.

* Substance-abuse treatment is usually treated based on the stage of the addiction, ranging from management of risk factors and education to intensive residential treatment followed by long-term outpatient care and support.

Popping Pills Latest Trend in Teen Drug Abuse

‘Nightline' Follows Up With Teens Fighting Prescription Drug Addiction

By CYNTHIA MCFADDEN and HOWARD ROSENBERG Feb. 13, 2008

When actor Heath Ledger died from what the coroner called an accidental overdose of prescription drugs, it got us to thinking about a story we first reported on two years ago: Teens abusing prescription drugs.

This disturbing trend has been increasingly well documented, as we saw when we visited a rehabilitation facility in Houston back then and met a young man named Jay.Jay, then 17, had been a nationally ranked tennis player and a good student. His parents had no idea he was abusing prescription drugs. Despite years of his using an array of drugs, Jay's mother said her son seemed normal.

"He was still making good grades," she said, "still playing tennis. He looked like Mr. All-American, so who would think?"

What drugs, we wondered?

So Jay reeled them off: "Percocets, Oxycontin, Xanax, Vicodin, Ritalin, Adderall." Those were just a few of the drugs with which he had experimented, starting at age 13.

Jay said he had "black eyes" and "lost a lot of weight" and probably hadn't showered in a month when he checked into The Right Step, a small drug and alcohol treatment clinic in Houston. Prescription Meds: ‘Drug of Choice'

Jay's story was not unique. The Right Step's adolescent program coordinator, Ernest Patterson, a former NBA star and a recovering addict himself, says abuse of pharmaceuticals was and is rampant among his young patients.

"Most of the kids that come here have actually experimented with Xanax," said Patterson. "They get it off the streets, or even sometimes the medication is prescribed to their parents and they're able to get into the medicine cabinet or to their mom's purse. And they're taking medication, and they just take it illegally."

How serious is the problem of prescription drug abuse among teens? "I still see kids that come to our facility, they continue to smoke marijuana," said Patterson. "But the majority of the kids that come here, most of them are prescription medications - that's their drug of choice."

National data supports Patterson's experience with young addicts. The Office of National Drug Control Policy says that while overall teen drug use is down nationwide, more teens abuse prescription drugs than any other illicit drug except marijuana. It claims that every day, 2,500 kids age 12-17 abuse prescription painkillers for the first time, and more people are getting addicted to prescription drugs. No ‘Safe' High

Some teens mistakenly believe that it is safer to get high off prescription drugs than illegal drugs, a fact that alarms The Right Step's chief medical officer, Dr. Jason Powers.

"It's scary because kids nowadays are using heavy prescription drugs, which are just as dangerous if not more so than street drugs as their gateway drugs," said Powers, whose own experience as a drug-addicted doctor led him into recovery and a specialty in addiction medicine.

Dr. Powers also laments the trend that adolescents are abusing prescription drugs at a younger age, which he says makes it more difficult for them to break the cycle of addiction.

"The problem with an adolescent experimenting with drugs in general, but particularly with strong prescription pills, is that the disease of addiction starts earlier the earlier in age that you experiment," said Dr. Powers. "So a 13-year-old trying Oxycontin is going to have those brain changes a lot more rapidly than a 21-year-old trying his first drink." The Candy Man Can

There are plenty of ways to obtain prescription drugs - raiding home medicine cabinets, calling in a parent's prescription, forging signatures or ordering on the Internet.

Jay claimed he could find just about anything he wanted by simply roving school hallways.

"It's so easy," he told "Nightline" two years ago. "You just have to go to a candy man, the guy who sells drugs."

There is a culture of anything goes. A shocking and potentially deadly practice happens at so-called "pharm parties," where teens drop an array of pills into a bowl, then pass around the "trail mix" for the partygoers to "graze."

"They'll just reach their hands in there and just take a handful, and just take them," said Patterson. "It could be anything." Over the Counter, and Into Your Living Room

Though the obstacles to acquiring prescription medications are low, there are highs that are even easier to obtain from over-the-counter drugs available on any drug store shelf.

Young patients at The Right Step described "Robotripping" - spinning a bottle of over-the-counter Robitussin cough syrup on the end of a string to separate the ingredients - and then consuming the "drugs."

"There are actually drugs in Robitussin that come to the top, and you just drink the drug and you hallucinate," Jay said, who admitted to having tried the practice. How Hard It Is

When we met him, Jay wanted to kick his drug habit. Despite our efforts, we have not been able to contact Jay since our first report. Unfortunately, the Right Step says he has relapsed since leaving treatment.

The webmaster of www.ismychildondrugs.com is a Police Officer in the Philadelphia suburbs and is a certified narcotics expert, working in the narcotics field for over 14 years. The information provided on this site is intended for informational purposes as a guide for concerned parents, family members and school personnel.

DENVER (CBS4) -

A nationwide trend shows a growing number of kids are getting high by raiding their parents' medicine cabinets for prescription drugs. It's called "pharming."

Schools are well aware of the dangerous practice. Now, there's a national effort to make parents understand their kids could be raiding the family medicine cabinet.

In Douglas County, six girls and three boys are being investigated for prescription drug abuse. All nine students attend Castle View High School. They were hospitalized on Friday after being suspected of taking the drug oxycodone.

"We're seeing a number of these happening just this year," said Larry Borland, Chief Security Officer of Douglas County Schools.

In a January, in an online newsletter, the Douglas County School District sounded the alarm about pharming.

"There are parties where all of the prescriptions go into one bowl and people just reach in and grab a handful," Borland said.

The millions who watched the Super Bowl were made aware of the issue when commercials aired that are part of a national campaign to educate parents.

Statistics show overall teen drug use is down, but more teens abuse prescription drugs than any other illicit drug except marijuana. Everyday, 2,500 kids, age 12 to 17, abuse a prescription painkiller for the first time.

"They are not safe to abuse they can be deadly," Borland said. "Childproofing your medicine cabinet, or even teenage-proofing your medicine cabinet would be a good idea."

* Narcotics Anonymous World Services: (818) 773-9999

* National Alcohol and Substance Abuse Information Center: (800) 784-6776. http://www.addictioncareoptions.com

* National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence: (800) NCA-CALL or (800) 475-HOPE

* National Clearinghouse for Alcoholism and Drug Information: (800) 729-6686

* National Resource Center: (866) 870-4979

* Recovery Resource Online: http://www.soberrecovery.com

* U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA): (800) 662-HELP (4357)