Drug Abuse in the News

Simply maintaining a relationship with your children and talking to them
about their day could keep them off the path of drug addiction.

That was the message to parents that came for a workshop at Rockingham First
United Methodist Church Thursday.

“If you pay attention to your
child’s routine, you will be able to notice when things begin to
change,” speaker Alcohol and Drug Services Substance Abuse Treatment
Specialist Brenda David said. “I’m talking about things like going to
the bathroom more often, always complaining things are hurting them,
report cards not coming home the way they should or sleeping habits
changing. These are all warning signs your child could be abusing
over-the-counter or prescription drug medications.”

She used an analogy of the way her son’s behavior began to change around the onset
of puberty, pointing out that substance abuse leads teenagers through a
transformational process.

“The other thing you need to be aware
of is what medications you have in your houses,” David said. “Not only
how many there are, but what they are, because teenagers nowadays can
switch prescription pills with an over-the-counter medication that’s the
same color and shape, and unless you’re really paying attention you
would never know.”

More than 30 people attended the hour and a
half workshop, ranging from social workers to school system employees to
members of the community.

Cardinal Clinic of Southern Pines
Clinician Gene Reaves works with children who suffer from emotional and
developmental problems as well as their parents. He said he picked up
some information he looked forward to sharing with the parents he
serves.

“Basically, to keep their medications locked away, and to
learn to talk to their children,” Reaves said after the event. “You
need to think things through before you ever go talk to them about it,
because so often parents get upset and go off the deep-end but that only
makes children withdraw and not want to talk.”

Dobbins Heights residents Mary Magee and Angeline David attended the meeting as
concerned members of the community, and said they have witnessed abuse
of medications by youth in Richmond County.

“This is a subject that I’m somewhat familiar with, because I see it in the neighborhood,”
Magee said. “It seems that when you can identify it, you can begin to
address it, and I’ve spoken to youth about it in church and just
directly talked to them in the community - it’s important that you let
them know what can happen to them if they continue down that path.”

Alcohol and Drug Services Moore County Substance Abuse Prevention Specialist
Emily Nicholson said teenagers often don’t realize the consequences of
reckless behavior.

“That’s why you have to be the adult and
explain the consequences to them,” she said. “My concern is awareness in
the changes that happen in the child’s life - the signs and symptoms of
what is going on.”

While parents need to remain aware of what
their children are doing, Nicholson stressed the importance of also
being aware of what their friends are capable of.

“It may not even be that they are doing it, but their friends may come over and use
your child to ransack your medicine cabinet, or pressure them into using
them,” she said. “Parents should also be aware of terminology like
‘farming’ and ‘farm parties,’ so that if you ever hear those words you
know what they’re talking about.”

Nicholson explained ‘farming’ refers to pillaging medicine cabinets for materials to alter
consciousness, and ‘farm parties’ are parties where abusers share their
ill-gotten gains.

“You really just have to listen and be a nosy parent,” David said.

The same afternoon at the monthly meeting of
the Citizens of Richmond for Responsible Living Board, Samaritan’s
Colony Director Harold Pearson drove home what can happen to people if
this behavior isn’t stopped.

He did so while sharing the background of the 12-bed treatment center on U.S. 220 between Rockingham
and Ellerbe.

“When we first opened in 1975, it was exclusively for the treatment of alcoholics,” Pearson said. “Back then,
that was all we saw. I’m sure there was some marijuana and cocaine, but
we didn’t really see anyone asking for help with that, now it’s rare
that we see anyone who only needs treatment for alcohol abuse.”

The fastest-growing drug of choice among those reaching out for help,
according to Pearson, is prescription drugs.

“Over the past 12 months, that’s what we’ve been seeing more and more,” he said. “It used
to be that I’d say as long as they keep the whiskey stills running, I’d
have job security. Then, I said as long as they had cocoa bushes, I’d
have a job. Now, I’m convinced that as long as the pharmaceutical
companies keep producing these pills I’ll have a job.”

He said one troubling trend is that with alcohol or cocaine, an abuser might
last decades before reaching a point when their life becomes
unmanageable.

“What we’re seeing is people can do about a
five-year run on opiates, and they are crying out for help,” he said.
“That’s about as long as your body can take it, before your
circumstances or legal issues force you to get help.”

He said that when dealing with addicts, pointing out the error of their ways
shouldn’t be the greatest concern.

“They are well-aware of what the problem is, so what we want to discuss with them is the solution,”
Pearson said.

Just over one in five high school students in the U.S. admits to
having taken a prescription drug without a doctor's prescription, the
CDC says in its National Youth Risk Behavior Survey.

Last year was the first
time the survey, which has been conducted every other year since 1991,
has assessed prescription drug abuse
among high school students. The CDC says it found that 20.2% of high
school students said they had taken a drug such as Ritalin,
Xanax, or OxyContin
without having a doctor's prescription.
The survey of more than 16,000 youths found that:

• Prescription drug abuse was most common among white students,
  at 23%, followed by Hispanics at 17% and African-Americans at 12%.
  
• Prescription drug abuse was most common among seniors (26%)
  and least common among freshmen (15%).
  
• There was no difference in prescription drug abuse by sex --
  20% for both male and female students.
  

"We are concerned to learn that so many high school students are
taking prescription drugs
that were not prescribed to them," Howell Wechsler, EdD, MPH, director
of the CDC's Division of Adolescent and School Health, says in a news
release. "Some people may falsely believe that prescription drugs are
safer than illegal drugs, yet their misuse can cause serious adverse
health effects, including addiction and death."
Drug and Alcohol Abuse


The survey asked a number of questions related to drug and
alcohol use in its 2009 tally.
It found that:

• 72% of high school students said they had used alcohol.
  
• 37% said they had used marijuana.
  
• 6.4% said they had used cocaine.
  
• 4.1% said they had used methamphetamine.
  
• 6.7% said they had used ecstasy.
  
• 2.5% had used heroin.
  
• 8% had used hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD or mescaline.
  

Those percentages were similar to those found in 2007.
Other answers revealed what CDC called "encouraging trends" in nutrition-related behaviors in recent
years. For example, in 2009:

• 29% said they drank soda at least once daily that year, down
  from 34% in 2007.
  
• 34% said they ate fruit or drank 100% fruit juice two or more
  times per day in 2009, up from 30% in 2005.
  
• 11% said they went without food for 24 hours to lose weight or keep
  from gaining weight in 2009,
  down from 13% in 2001.
  
• 5% said they had taken diet pills, powders, or liquids for
  weight reasons in 2009, compared to 9% in 2001.
  
• 4% said they had vomited or taken laxatives to control weight
  in 2009, down slightly from 6% in 2003.
  

Risky Teen Behavior


The survey found that many high school students engage in
behaviors that increase their likelihood for the leading causes of death
among young people between 10 and 24. It found that in the 30 days
prior to being asked:

• 9.7% of high school students said they rarely or never wore a
  seat belt when riding in a car driven by someone else.
  
• 9.7% had driven a car or other vehicle one or more times when
  they had been drinking alcohol. The prevalence for drinking while
  driving was higher among males (11.6%) than females (7.6%) and higher
  among white males (12.7%) than black males (8.7%) and Hispanic males
  (11%); overall, 15.4% of 12th grade students admitted to drinking while
  driving.
  
• 28.3% admitted to riding in a car or other vehicle that had
  been driven by someone who had been drinking alcohol.
  
• 17% said they had carried a weapon.
  
• 41.8% had drunk alcohol and 20.8% had smoked marijuana.
  

The survey also showed that many high school students engage in
behaviors that are associated with the leading causes of death among
adults 25 and over. In 2009:

• 19.5% of high school students had smoked cigarettes during the
  30 days before the survey.
  
• 77.7% had not eaten fruits and vegetables five
  or more times a day in the seven-day period before the survey.
  
• On all seven days before being surveyed, 29.2% had drunk sodas
  at least once daily; 81.6% had not been physically active for at least
  an hour.
  
• One-third of the students attended physical education classes
  daily, but 12% were still obese.
  

The study said that
since 1991, the prevalence of many health-risk behaviors among high
school students had decreased, but that many continue to engage in
activities or behaviors that place them at risk for the leading causes
of death and sickness.
The researchers conclude that their findings indicate a need for
monitoring of behaviors of high school students.