It is not difficult to find criminal enterprise when what is being sought is illegal. It can be stolen goods, a person, criminal act or a drug, however many people become involved with crime through drug seeking behaviors. Someone has to provide or sell the drug. It can be the little old lady across town selling her pain medicine after a hip operation, an unscrupulous physician or a criminal street gang.
Within these organizations and among individuals, illegal sales of prescription drugs have exploded across the country. What was once touted as good pain management care has now become the newest way to tune out and turn on because some teens want to self-medicate.
Facts on Prescription Drug Abuse
According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, "abuse of prescription drugs to get high has become increasingly prevalent among teens and young adults. Past year abuse of prescription pain killers now ranks second – only behind marijuana – as the nation's most prevalent illegal drug problem." OxyContin, Hydrocodone, Xanax, Vicodin are the most sought after medications at this time.
Nearly half of teens who use prescription drugs say they get them for free from a relative or friend. Ten percent say they buy pain relievers from a friend or relative, and another ten percent say they stole the drugs.
Teens ages 12-17 have the second-highest annual rates of prescription drug abuse after young adults 18-25, said the White House Drug Policy Web site. Prescription drugs are the most commonly abused drug among 12-13-year-olds. Surprisingly, when teens abuse prescription drugs, they often characterize their use of the drugs as “responsible,” “controlled” or “safe,” with the perception that the drugs are safer than street drugs.
However, opiates have the same effect on the body whether it is injectable heroine purchased on the street or a prescription opiate pill gained from a friend.The feeling is psychologically addictive because of the pleasurable feelings and physically addictive because of how the chemicals in the pill react with the brain. It makes kicking the habit dangerous and hard if done improperly. Some medicines aren't formulated for cold turkey stoppage and can bring death.
Personal Account of Addiction
Found on opiates.com, a news reporter with the Bellville News Democrat, Mike Fitzgerald, writes about a doctor he interviewed named Jon Riley Hays who started taking leftover OxyContin after a patient returned them to his office. He took them for severe back pain. Soon he became addicted and later arrested.
"Within six weeks, he was stealing OxyContin from patients, crushing up the pills to mix in a saline solution, loading it into a hypodermic needle and plunging it into his arm. When weaning off OxyContin. 'Your bones feel like they're on fire and they're melting flesh.'"
Hays got off OxyContin but was arrested by the Drug Enforcement Administration. He was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison May 2002.
Law Enforcement React Nationwide
Sharon L. Potter, U.S. Attorney General for the Northern District of West Virginia, said in a released statement this year, that prescription drug overdose deaths in West Virginia have increased by 550 percent between 1999 and 2004 – which was the greatest for any state in the country. And the numbers are increasing. Police there quoted statistics showing that in 2006, 250,000 adults under the age of 45 in West Virginia have used some sort of prescription drugs for non-medical reasons. Now officials there are focusing efforts on helping teens avoid the opiate pitfall.
Police officials said in a released statement, “research indicates that teenagers abuse prescription drugs more than cocaine, ecstasy, heroin and speed because they believe that prescriptions are safer than other drugs. In fact, one in five high school students admit to abusing medications not prescribed to him or her just to get high. A combination of alcohol and these prescription drugs can be extremely dangerous to adults and children".
Signs of Opiate Addiction
- Extreme Loss of Appetite and Weight
- Constricted/Pinpoint Pupils
- Watery/Sunken In Eyes
- Poor Complexion or Sickly Appearance
- Constipation
- Drowsiness/Falling Asleep At Odd Times
- Frequently Sick
- Tremors, Twitching, Excessive Scratching
- May Appear Intoxicated With No Signs of Alcohol Use
Help Teens Stay Clean
In 2006, abuse of OxyContin among 8th graders exactly doubled – increasing 100 percent over the last four years. According to data collected by the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), since 1995 the number of drug abuse-related emergency room visits involving pain relievers such as Vicodin, Percocet, OxyContin and Darvon, increased 153 percent (from 42,857 to 108,320). One out of every ten high school seniors now reports abusing powerful prescription pain killers – but the law is cracking down on the problem.
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