SPECIAL REPORT—As if parents
didn’t have enough to worry about, many teens are experimenting with drugs that are more easily accessible. Those drugs
at home are often easily accessible and may be considered safer to a teen wanting to experiment. Moreover, many adolescents
are even going as far as to trade or sell secretly swiped pills for the euphoria that medicines can cause as side effects
or use other types of drugs to “manage” their lives better, cope with stress, control their sleep patterns, boost
their energy levels, lose weight or build muscle mass.
At least part of the reason for this disturbing trend growing among
North Carolina teens is that the state’s general population is rising. In
2005, North Carolina ranked 11th in most populated states with 8.7 million. By 2025, that figure is expected to
rise to 9.25 million, propelling the state up to 8th largest population in the nation. As state residents grow
in numbers, so will drug trafficking.
With teens, many view experimenting with pharmaceutical drugs to
be safer than illicit street drugs like cocaine, heroin, marijuana, etc. Teens may also consider the usage of prescription
narcotics and other prescribed drugs to mean less trouble if they get caught.
Often doctors will prescribe such medications for a parent, grandparent
or other close relative that may suffer from chronic conditions that warrant specific and controlled usages. However, these
medicines have become the convenient drugs of choice for teens and removing pills from their family’s home not that
difficult. While street drugs
Prescription pain medications such as Oxycontin, Valium, Vicodin,
Oxycondone, Hydrocodone, Methadone and Percocet are often implicated in such teen black market trades in schools across the
country, where kids may supply each other with drugs for trade or cash.
Other teens may simply resort to using over-the-counter medications,
such as cough syrups containing dextromthorphan mixed with alcohol or pills to get high.
In some teen circles,
“pharm” parties away from school and home can be an opportunity for this illegal and discreet drug trade. With
prescription medicine information readily available online, teens can easily learn about the side effects that some drugs
deliver without taking in consideration the risks involved.
If parents are hearing their teens using terminology such as “pharming”
or “trail-mix”, then close attention may be required. “Trail mix” is a phrased coined from the similarities
of keeping prescription pills in small plastic bags like popular trail mix snacks.
In a study conducted by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America,
it was estimated that 1 out of every 5 U.S. teens has taken such drugs illegally for the sole purpose to get high.
While most parents, school officials, and public officials have
spent years focusing their efforts on keeping kids off of illicit street drugs, more teens have discovered that prescription
medications are often easier to get and their usage largely goes undetected until an overdose or other late-term revelation
such as dependency or severe personality changes. Other teens become desperate enough to attempt to illegally obtain prescriptions
from pharmacies, doctors or even buy medications online.
Parents can educate themselves by visiting drugfree.org or other
similar websites and learn about this latest disturbing trend, while keeping open communications with their children about
such drugs and their consequences. Lastly, parents should safeguard their medicines
in a secure place, while counting and keeping track of the pills they have in the medicine bottles.
