'Pharming' a growing fear

Some school districts are seeing a 'scary' increase in the dangerous trend of abusing prescription and over-the-counter pills.

April M. Washington

Published March 5, 2008 at 12:30 a.m.

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Seventeen-year-old Rachel Justice struggled to remain calm as she watched a friend go on a binge.

They were at a party last fall, and in a few short hours he downed shots of rum, smoked pot and snorted Adderall, a controlled stimulant used to treat narcolepsy, attention deficit disorder and hyperactivity.

"It was like . . . Oh my god! He was crashing," said Justice, a senior at Rangeview High School. "I left the party, and my three friends called me in a panic. They had no clue what to do. When I came back, he was throwing up and acting strange. I had to call an ambulance. It was scary."

Justice's friend survived his drug and alcohol free-fall. But what he did to himself sheds light on a disturbing and growing trend: abuse of prescription and over-the-counter drugs, particularly by young people.

"We hear stories at our school about kids who will go to parties and dump prescription pills into a container and pick them out at will," said Chris Tabeling, an assistant principal at ThunderRidge High School in Highlands Ranch.

"They call it Chex Mix. We continue to hear scary stories of how they're not only taking prescription drugs, but they'll drink alcohol with it."

Widespread problem

The trading and selling of drugs such as Vicodin and OxyContin and over-the-counter medications is called "pharming." The practice is increasing, creating another danger for students and another concern for school officials everywhere.

"This is a widespread problem," said Larry Borland, director of security for Douglas County Public Schools. "Pharming keeps coming up as a major topic when you talk to security from other school districts."

And it has made headlines locally in recent weeks:

* In February, 11 Castle View High School students were suspected of taking the prescription painkiller oxycodone, a painkiller. The students were hospitalized after showing symptoms of nausea and constricted pupils. The case is under review by the Douglas County district attorney.

* Later last month, a seventh- grader at Castle Rock Middle School allegedly gave three pills believed to be Vicodin, a narcotic painkiller, to another student at the nearby high school, officials said. That case, too, is under review by the DA.

* And just last week, two girls and a boy from Carmody Middle School in Lakewood were charged after police and school officials found four tablets of Dilaudid, prosecutors in Jefferson County said.

The federal government reports that overall youth drug use is down. But presciption drug abuse is a "huge and growing problem," said Jane Maxwell, a researcher with the School of Social Work at the University of Texas and an expert on substance abuse trends.

National media push

The problem is so serious the White House recently launched a national media campaign to educate parents. In his weekly radio address Saturday, President Bush called for tighter controls on Internet sales of controlled substances.

Nationwide, nearly one in five teens, or 4.5 million, report abusing prescription medications that were not prescribed to them, according to 2005 survey cited by the Office of National Drug Control Policy. More than three in five respondents say prescription pain relievers are easy to get from their parents' medicine cabinets.

Alex Sanchez, a spokesman for Denver Public Schools, acknowledges that pharming likely takes place, although the extent is unknown. He said police are notified when a student is caught with drugs.

Aurora Public Schools is not witnessing abuse of prescription drugs inside its schools, spokeswoman Georgia Duran said.

But, she added, "because we have heard a few student anecdotes about weekend activities (involving prescription drugs), we'll begin a discussion about the issue, including if and how we should address it."

Slight upswing seen

Jeffco Public Schools officials said there is a slight upswing of students abusing prescription drugs.

"It's growing in popularity in the teen culture," said spokeswoman Melissa Reeves. "It's easy to do because they simply have to go to their parents' and grandparents' medicine cabinets to get it."

Teens and young adults are experimenting with painkillers and the like because they believe they are safer and not as addictive as street drugs, experts say. Yet, as they point out, the sudden death of Oscar-nominated actor Heath Ledger demonstrates the dangers of prescription drugs.

"They go to these parties and trade off multiple medications, not knowing what they are taking," said Brian Hemstreet, of the University of Colorado at Denver School of Pharmacy. "The danger of that is it can be lethal if they're mixing these drugs with alcohol. They could pass out or overdose on it."

Law enforcement officials and educators say parents and grandparents need to pay close attention to the trend and keep prescription medication locked away from from their children.

"These drugs are very powerful," said Scott Storey, district attorney for Jefferson and Gilpin counties. "Young teens are very naive about prescription drugs and have no understanding about the danger they present."

washingtonam@RockyMoun tainNews.com or 303-954-5086

Parental tips, guidelines

Here are some tips for parents to keep prescription drugs out of the hands of kids.

* Educate yourself and your children about the risk of misusing prescription medication.

* Keep prescription drugs locked in a secure place away from children.

* Keep close track of the quantities of pills and regularly monitor the contents of medicine cabinets.

* Discard expired and unused pills by burying them deep in the trash.

• March 5, 2008

  6:58 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  natasha writes:

  Why throw away your old oxycontin and vicodin? Call me I recycle ;)

• March 5, 2008

  7:05 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  me2 writes:

  Good one Natasha.

• March 5, 2008

  8:29 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  gcrez writes:

  Ironic isn't it? I brought up this issue in an arguement just last week when people were trying to demonize MJ. So instead of teens becoming hooked on video games and cheetos, they are resorting to harder opiates that can kill them. Way to go society! A prime example of how backwards the "war on drugs" really is.

• March 5, 2008

  8:36 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  jackwoehr writes:

  The triumph of the War on Drugs! Spend 25 years convincing a couple of generations of youth that "marijuana is just as bad as hard drugs". Then as soon as they try marijuana and like it, they try hard drugs.

  Step one to stopping pharming: Cart the Office of National Drug Policy out to the Atlantic Ocean and tip it in. No, wait, that would be improper disposal of toxic waste ...

• March 5, 2008

  9:06 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  POHA writes:

  *shakes head*

  Here's another thought... how about doctors prescribing something non-lethal for pain? Like, ahem...

• March 5, 2008

  10:20 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Theoldguy writes:

  Well, you've gotta start culling the herd somewhere. Might as well start with the real stupid ones. Parents AND kids.

  Could this be the fruits of our labor? Drugging to control a psuedo problem like ADD or ADHA that was created by teachers for teachers? So this now rolls into the modern day Pharming problem.

  Well folks, I hope you bought insurance policies for the kids when they were younger and the price was cheap. This may prove to be a great way to pay off the mortgage. Why does this problem surface in the Metro Area?

  This requires more conversation.................

• March 5, 2008

  10:32 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  FlyfishDude52 writes:

  theoldguy - Are suggesting this may be a continuum of Darwinian
  natural selection? It is, it works for me.

  I feel sad when I here of this stuff. I have a teenager & a 20
  year old & I thanks God every day that my kids talk to me & I to
  them regarding this stuff. I'm not saying it's the magic thing
  but open discussion rather than, "I forbid you to..." seems to be more effective. I believe that parents have to engage their children about the pitfalls we know of, cause there are many that
  we don't, but maybe they'll come to us even if we say we don't
  know but let's find out. The ones doing the pharming probably have parents that want to vote for the W.A.S.P. woman or the black guy with the funny name.

• March 5, 2008

  12:18 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  kathyM writes:

  Taking prescription drugs to get high is new? Back in the '60s it was called "expanding your mind." Today it's called "pharming." I don't see the difference.

• March 5, 2008

  1:37 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Theoldguy writes:

  FlyfishDude52

  I don't have the answer. I have two daughters that have grown up and are a delight. My son is something else. Perhaps that is were my frustration lies.
  I have always been a proponent of Darwinism and it may be a natural answer in and of itself. But my anger with that is that government, or any vertical society, seeks to go to war for many reasons. The present situation boggles my mind. But the frustration comes from knowing that they choose the fittest and most educated to send to war. Killing the best breeding stock is completely opposite common sense. With the best killed off in each of the last four, or five, generations there really isn't much left. Add to that those conceived in the backseat of car and it goes right off the scale.
  Regarding the coming election....I see Clinton as a raving Socialist. Obama as making too many promises that Congress won't allow and McCain taking it because everyone will be holding their noses while pulling the lever or pushing the button or scribbling with their crayon. This has been how America has voted since Kennedy. The reality is that even though we profess to want change, as a society, radical change is too much. I also see this race as one driven by the news media. That bunch flops as much as a flag in the wind.

  However things go at the end of this year I hope we survive it both physically and financially. Greed and stupidity has gotten us to this point in time. I only hope that society starts to act for the benefit of all. Taxation is not the answer. A lot more personal freedom would go a long way.

• March 5, 2008

  2:02 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  FlyfishDude52 writes:

  Theoldguy

  I couldn't have said it better. and yes, I'll be holding my nose as I
  pull the lever, also. I disagree that our presidential elections have been this way since Kennedy. I think that it goes further back than that. Eisenhower (war hero?) vs. Stephenson ( socialist spawned of McCarthyism) FDR vs. a cacophany of idiots. I can't go further back, but have the hunch that it wasn't much different.
  Wilson the Harvard professor that brought us income tax was no winner.
  And who was the guy (Hoover perhaps?) that appointed Joe Kennedy as the Secretary of the SEC? Now there was a wise move...
  If I recall it was a maneuver that helped "Black Friday" occur and
  hit the jackpot by catapulting the kennedy's rum running money into gazillions.

  My point is that I think it may have been this way all along, but
  realize that it is fair game for discussion. Several of our past
  presidents have gone down as pretty good fellows, etc. When I think
  of that I realize that history is, indeed, written by the winners.

  You have touched on many items that strike very close to home, in
  my opinion, why can't others see through the ruse, red-herring or
  smokescreen?
  me the result was

• March 5, 2008

  2:09 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  psu96 writes:

  TheOldGuy,
  You sound like some poor victim. POOR ME!!!!

• March 5, 2008

  4:05 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Theoldguy writes:

  psu96

  A victim perhaps, but not any more so than anyone else.

  My problem is that half my college major was philosophy. Now that I have the time to muddle through life, love and civilization I find myself running headlong into the same problems many before me tried to figure out. Abnormal Criminal psychology was the other half.

  FlyfishDude52

  continue your thought

  You're right about the red herring. A lot of wishful thinking going on out there. The Pied Piper is in town.

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