There is a new drug pusher in town. He does not hang out in the alley or on the street corner-and it is not Heroin or crack this time. This time the pusher is hanging out much closer to home and the drugs are what most people would call medicines. More teens abuse these than all types of illicit drugs combined, if you exclude marijuana.
Online drug stores are happy to dispense any controlled drug at a price much higher than one would pay at a regular pharmacy and an estimated 85% of these sites require no prescriptions or positive identification. Drugs such as Opioid (opiumlike) pain-killers (Oxycontin, Vicodin), muscle relaxants and anti-anxiety drugs (Valium, Xanax), and stimulants such as Ritalin are the most often abused.
Left-over pills in the medicine cabinet can become a windfall for a young person looking to get high or make a little extra cash at school. Many teens who would never touch illicit drugs might abuse prescription drugs because they seem to be a safe way to get high and they are so readily available.
The truth is that while these medications might be taken as prescribed and for short periods when needed with relative safety, the amounts being taken to “cop a buzz” are way beyond the approved dosages and could be lethal.
Abusers are using these drugs to carefully create a tailor-made, desired feelings. Before school or a party they may take Oxycontin or Vicodin to get high, then add some Valium or Xanax to mellow it out a bit. Later, a couple of sleeping pills to get some rest or, if the party is still going, a little Ritalin to last the night. This is a widespread activity that screams of a lack of adequate drug awareness instruction.
Combining two or more drugs can cause different results than the same drugs taken separately. This can occur in several ways:
1. Inhibitory. One drug may block the effects of another. This can lead to a dangerous overdose because of a lessened perception of the effects of the drug and the user may believe they have not reached their limit.
2. Additive. The effects of both drugs are present and one does not affect the other.
3. Synergistic effect. In this case, one drug can multiply the effect of another with totally unpredictable results.
Combining any drugs is risky, but the deadliest combination is this:
As the user takes the drugs more frequently, Tolerance builds. This means that more is required to feel the same high. Eventually, to achieve ANY pleasurable effects, dangerously high doses are needed. At the same time, the drug abuser’s mind becomes more and more clouded and their ability to make clear judgments is reduced and they are more likely to take deadly amounts of the drugs.
This combination of higher doses and poorer judgment results in the souring numbers of overdoses seen in the last decade from prescription drugs.
While much is being done to keep these medicines out of the hands of those who would misuse them, ultimately, it comes down to parents and educators to ensure young people have what they need: the truth about these drugs and what their abuse can do.
Tony Bylsma CCDC, is a rehabilitation counselor and drug prevention speaker in Los Angeles.
Blog: http://www.detoxrehab.org
Website: http://www.TheRoadOut.org
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