Young people don’t have to buy drugs on the streets anymore to get high. They can find them in their own homes. The abuse of prescription drugs among teens and young adults continues to be a national health crisis as the statistics are climbing. Except for marijuana, teens are abusing prescription drugs more than any illicit drug.
According to a report from The Partnership For a Drug Free American, twenty percent of teens have abused a prescription pain medications, as well as and prescription stimulants and tranquilizer. One of ten teens has abused cough medication.
Pharm Parties
When you hear about a pharm party, it’s not attended by cows and pigs. Pharm parties are pill-popping teen gatherings where young people get high on pharmacy drugs. Rather than bringing presents, kids, as young as preteens, bring in prescription drugs they’ve stolen from their parents’ medicine cabinets. Pouring the drugs into punch bowls, they grab handfuls of pills to consume. Even worse, sometimes alcohol is combined with the drugs for an even more deadly mixture.
Types of Drugs Teens Are Abusing
Basically, there are four categories of prescription medications that the National Survey of Drug Abuse recognizes. Besides swallowing these pills, teen also crush them and/or snort for an increased high.
- Stimulants—A few include Ritalin, Adderall, and Dexedrine.
- Pain relievers—Examples include OxyContin, (Percocet, Perdodan), Codine, Morphine, Opium, Hydrocodone
- Sedatives and tranquilizers—Prescribed to treat sleep problems and anxiety disorders, these drugs work similar to alcohol, depressing the nervous system.
Drug Lingo
Besides using the lingo “pharm”, this underground movement uses has other jargon. If you overhear or read any emails with these terms on your teen’s computer then you need to be concerned….
- “Trail mix”—Bowls and baggies of random pills.
- “Pharming”—Looting the family medicine cabinet. This is frequently used in teen internet chat dialogues.
Using the internet, kids are able to not only network with other teen prescription drug abusers but also find information for lethal drug combinations.
- Online “recipes”—Besides communicating online to set up parties, teens are also sharing “recipes” for drug cocktails online.
- Online pharmacies—While some are legitimate, many other online pharmacies sell drugs without a doctor’s prescription. Alarmingly, all it takes is a credit card and a computer to get a prescription filled online for some online pharmacies. Teen can easily order non-prescribed medications from an online drug seller.
If your child has sudden mood swings and becomes uninterested in activities that used to engage him, suspect there’s a problem. Other red lights may include obsessive computer use, irregular eating and sleep problems.
What Parents Can Do
- Talk to their teens—First, let your teens know you’re aware of the problem. Warn them that taking an un-prescribed drug is just as dangerous as taking illegal street drugs. Explain how pain killers are made from opioids, which is the same stuff as in heroin.
- Monitor computers—Keep all computers and laptops in open areas such as living rooms and family rooms, as well as closely monitor their children’s online activities.
- Partnership for Drugs Website—Here parents can find help for how to intervene if they either suspect or confirm their child is abusing prescription drugs.
- Keep all drugs out of reach—Besides throwing away any old drugs, buy a medicine cabinet with a lock and hide the key.
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