Medicine Cabinet Offers Teens Drug Choices
Expert: Medicine Abuse Reaching Alarming Rates
UPDATED: 4:32 p.m. EST February 12, 2003
LOS ANGELES -- There is a new and dangerous way that kids are abusing drugs and their pushers could be in an unexpected place: your medicine cabinet.
A teen talking about drugs said, "It knocks you out."
"It will get you higher than being drunk," said another.
But these kids were not talking about illegal drugs. They were talking about drugs that might be in your own medicine cabinet -- drugs like Zanax, Prozac, Lithium, Nyquil, Vicodin, Ritalin, Oxycotin, Paxil and any type of cough syrup.
They are legal medicines, prescription drugs and over-the-counter medications. These medications, when taken properly, are safe and beneficial. But when abused, something as simple as cold medicine can be dangerous -- even deadly.
"What they are getting is large concentrations of dextromethorphan, which in high concentration has effects similar to methadone and actually similar to things like PCP," said addictions specialist Dr. Drew Pinsky, of Las Encinas Hospital in Pasadena, Calif.
Today's youth are abusing medicines at an alarming rate, he said.
"I've heard reports of late childhood, 8-, 9-, 10-year-olds doing this type of thing," Pinsky said.
Three million kids ages 12 to 17 have tried prescription drugs at least once to get high, according to the Food and Drug Administration.
But why does a kid swallow an entire bottle of cough syrup? What is the payoff?
"The payoff is emotional numbness," a teen identified only as Vanessa said.
Part of the attraction of over-the-counter and prescription drugs is the availability. Kids say they can easily be bought and traded at school.
"You see somebody who has a broken bone or has a cast or you know they've been out sick for any type of reason you ask them 'Hey, what are you taking?' And then you be like, 'Sell it for a dollar?'" one teen said.
And, of course, to find another common supplier, you don't have to look any further than your own medicine cabinet.
"Just say you want to use their bathroom and you go through their cabinet. Find uppers, downers, any kind of medicine," a teen identified only as Eddie said.
And with so many drugs available on the market today, Pinsky believes there is a cultural phenomenom at play as well
"They are used to looking to solutions in a pill," Pisky said.
The teens interviewed are now in a drug rehabilitation program at a treatment center in Tarzana, Calif., but their drug experience forever changed their lives. None of them finished high school. They know what it's like to live on the streets. They know what jail looks like from the inside -- and all this before the age of 20.
"It starts off ... you saying ... it's prescription drugs, it's legal. And you start getting high off of it. Well, I got high off it. Let's try weed. And then you're smoking. Go to coke ... go to meth," Marco said of his addiction progression.
"I was smoking heroin and speed every day," Eddie said.
Experts say there are warning signs. The indications might include changes in sleeping patterns, mood swings and dropping grades.
Pinsky's advice for parents is to be absolutely clear and consistent in messages about legal or illicit drugs. Pinsky advocates a zero-tolerance policy.
A teen talking about drugs said, "It knocks you out."
"It will get you higher than being drunk," said another.
But these kids were not talking about illegal drugs. They were talking about drugs that might be in your own medicine cabinet -- drugs like Zanax, Prozac, Lithium, Nyquil, Vicodin, Ritalin, Oxycotin, Paxil and any type of cough syrup.
They are legal medicines, prescription drugs and over-the-counter medications. These medications, when taken properly, are safe and beneficial. But when abused, something as simple as cold medicine can be dangerous -- even deadly.
"What they are getting is large concentrations of dextromethorphan, which in high concentration has effects similar to methadone and actually similar to things like PCP," said addictions specialist Dr. Drew Pinsky, of Las Encinas Hospital in Pasadena, Calif.
Today's youth are abusing medicines at an alarming rate, he said.
"I've heard reports of late childhood, 8-, 9-, 10-year-olds doing this type of thing," Pinsky said.
Three million kids ages 12 to 17 have tried prescription drugs at least once to get high, according to the Food and Drug Administration.
But why does a kid swallow an entire bottle of cough syrup? What is the payoff?
"The payoff is emotional numbness," a teen identified only as Vanessa said.
Part of the attraction of over-the-counter and prescription drugs is the availability. Kids say they can easily be bought and traded at school.
"You see somebody who has a broken bone or has a cast or you know they've been out sick for any type of reason you ask them 'Hey, what are you taking?' And then you be like, 'Sell it for a dollar?'" one teen said.
And, of course, to find another common supplier, you don't have to look any further than your own medicine cabinet.
"Just say you want to use their bathroom and you go through their cabinet. Find uppers, downers, any kind of medicine," a teen identified only as Eddie said.
And with so many drugs available on the market today, Pinsky believes there is a cultural phenomenom at play as well
"They are used to looking to solutions in a pill," Pisky said.
The teens interviewed are now in a drug rehabilitation program at a treatment center in Tarzana, Calif., but their drug experience forever changed their lives. None of them finished high school. They know what it's like to live on the streets. They know what jail looks like from the inside -- and all this before the age of 20.
"It starts off ... you saying ... it's prescription drugs, it's legal. And you start getting high off of it. Well, I got high off it. Let's try weed. And then you're smoking. Go to coke ... go to meth," Marco said of his addiction progression.
"I was smoking heroin and speed every day," Eddie said.
Experts say there are warning signs. The indications might include changes in sleeping patterns, mood swings and dropping grades.
Pinsky's advice for parents is to be absolutely clear and consistent in messages about legal or illicit drugs. Pinsky advocates a zero-tolerance policy.Copyright 2003 by Lifewhile.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
