By The Flint Journal
October 18, 2009, 6:00AM
pharm_parties. Prescription drugs such as Oxycontin and Vicodin have surpassed marijuana as the new gateway drugs for teens.Flint Journal file photo
GENESEE COUNTY, Michigan — There’s a party going on in the family medicine cabinet. Unsuspecting parents are the host. The guest list is their own teenage son or daughter’s friends.
Welcome to the “pharm party” — a dangerous new trend that experts warn is growing fast among suburban teens and is helping to turn prescription medication into the No. 1 gateway drug.
“The pharm parties are absolutely elements of abuse,” said Dr. Mark Menestrina, medical director for Brighton Hospital’s detoxification unit. “(Teens) just get meds from their parents medicine cabinet and throw them in a candy dish. Kids just take pills from the candy dish (and) eat them.”
And, the dangers are very real.
“I OD’ed,” said a 17-year-old Shiawassee Township girl who asked not to be identified. “They were my grandma’s antidepressants. I don’t know what they were called, but I took a whole bunch and ended up in the hospital. It wasn’t the first time I took them, but it was the last.”
Since then, the girl said she’s heard about plans for local pharm parties with drugs such as the pain killer Vicodin, anxiety medication Xanax and the muscle relaxant Flexeril on the menu — all of which are readily available in lots of home medicine cabinets.
“We’re finding more and more kids with prescription drugs,” said Clio Police Chief James McLellan, who doesn’t think his community is as bad as others although he’s definitely seeing an increase.
Clio formed a task force and in May hosted a health fair to collect unused and expired medication. They got $5,000 worth of meds — the most commonly turned in was Vicodin.
The Clio School District this month also hosted a town hall meeting to inform parents and the community about the issue; 20 people attended.
“Anecdotally, you see it in the paper and you hear about it in school districts,” said Genesee Community Mental Health’s Manager of Substance Abuse Prevention Lisa Coleman. “We’re hearing about these things happening all throughout Genesee County, not just one particular area.”
• Last October, a Flushing High School student was rushed from school to the hospital when he randomly ate three pills he acquired from another student who police said had stolen them from his brother who was being treated for brain cancer.
The pills were beta blockers typically prescribed for high blood pressure. The drugs caused the student’s blood pressure to dip down to 30 beats per minute.
• In Clio last summer, a teen was caught selling random pills out of his backpack at a park.
• In 2003, a Swartz Creek student stole about 30 of his father’s Seroquel pills, an antipsychotic, and sold them to students at school. Two students passed out and were taken to the hospital after ingesting the drug.
Teens often plan pharm parties well ahead of time, stockpiling prescription drugs raided from the family medicine cabinet. When they get to the party, all the drugs are thrown in a bowl, called “trail mix.”
The pills sometimes are consumed by the handful and often washed down with alcohol.
The goal is to gobble up as many different types of prescription medicines as possible. Typically, teens don’t even know what they’re taking or mixing and what the side effects could be.
“We have had a couple overdose cases where kids took something and had no idea what it was,” said Swartz Creek Police Chief Rick Clolinger.
Clolinger said the thing that irked him most was that these kids just randomly took such drugs.
“Why would anyone want to ingest something when they have no clue what it is?” he asked.
Just how bad is the problem in Genesee County? No one’s really sure.
One of the major assessors of student drug abuse locally is the Coordinated Community Student Survey, an annual survey conducted by Genesee Community Mental Health and Michigan State University. Currently, the questionnaire only polls student’s drug use for marijuana, inhalants and street drugs.
In the future, Coleman said they plan to include questions specifically about prescription drugs.
A December study funded by the National Institute on Drug Use found that while traditional street drugs such as cocaine, crack and meth showed a marked decline in use among teens — prescription drug abuse remains at or near peak levels.
Meanwhile, even teens say families can help their kids avoid learning the hard way about prescription drug abuse, simply by locking medicine cabinets and talking to their kids.
Menestrina worries that teens aren’t aware of the dangers of eating these drugs, let alone mixing them.
“They have no idea what the pills are in many instances. Because it’s a pharmaceutical, their perceived risk is less. ... They think: It’s approved by the FDA, so it’s OK.”
Because of this misconception, a lot of teens turn to these drugs as the easiest way to get high.
“For years marijuana was known as the gateway drug. It was the No. 1 illicit substance that a young person was most likely to use first,” said Menestrina. “For the last four years now, it has been passed by prescription medications. The new gateway drug for many young people is prescription medication.”
Pharm Lingo
Big boys, cotton, kicker: Various slang for prescription pain relievers.
Chill pills, french fries, tranqs: Various slang for prescription sedatives and tranquilizers.
Pharming (pronounced “farming”): From the word pharmaceutical. It means kids getting high by raiding their parents’ medicine cabinets for prescription drugs.
Pharm parties: Parties where teens bring prescription drugs from home, mix them together into a big bowl (see ‘trail mix’), and grab a handful. Not surprisingly, pharm parties are usually arranged while parents are out.
Pilz (pronounced pills): A popular term used to describe prescription medications. Can also include over-the-counter medications.
Recipe: Prescription drugs mixed with alcoholic or other beverages.
Trail mix: A mixture of various prescription drugs, usually served in a big bag or bowl at pharm parties.
Source: Partnership for a Drugfree America
Where to get help:
RAPID DETOX LAS VEGAS
(800) 276-7021
Sunday, October 18, 2009
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