Nov. 26, 2007
Battling The Prescription Drug Epidemic
Young Adults’ Prescription Drug Use Up — And Many Don’t Think Twice About "Stacking" Drugs
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Play CBS Video Video Generation Rx While narcotics abuse has declined in the U.S., new studies have found that many teens are now instead misusing prescription drugs. Katie Couric investigates this unsettling trend.
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Police Chief Dave L'Esperance's son began abusing drugs in his teens, including prescription methadone wafers, like these. (CBS)
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Interactive Substance Abuse In America Get the facts on a national problem. Find out where to get help, learn how drugs affect the body and compare state drunk-driving laws.
Meet Erin. She’s your average, ambitious college coed.
“It’s just this instant happy. And it’s not a false happy. It feels so genuine,” she said. “I mean, I stay up all night, I'm literally up every hour every day”
She told CBS News what gets her through both term papers and toga parties at a private school in the south.
“When I'm on Adderall, I'm a person who's driven and has lots of energy,” she said.
Adderall is a drug used to treat Attention Deficit Disorder, something Erin doesn’t have.
“And then if I take something like valium, I usually drink on that too a little bit, and I have a blast, I have a wonderful night. I don't remember it the next morning.” she said.
In fact, Erin admits to abusing as many as 10 prescription or over-the-counter drugs in a single day - a phenomenon kids in the know call “stacking,” Couric reports.
“You take one of these in the morning because you need to get up for school, whereas in the afternoon, you need to calm down so take one of these,” said Steve Pasierb, president and CEO of Partnership for a Drug-Free America (PDFA).
According to the PDFA, about one-in-five teenagers has admitted to abusing prescription drugs.
“We see teenagers saying ‘I'm under a lot of stress,’” Pasierb said. “’I'm under stress to perform, get good grades, be a good child, be a good athlete’ … all of those things. And those lead to pressures which A, cause kids to party to escape. And B, cause them to abuse certain drugs very tactically for their school performance.”
The PDFA’s research shows these drugs are easy to get - and easy to mistake for being somehow safer than cocaine or heroin.
“What we're hearing from kids is these are household products. These are things they're getting from mom's medicine cabinet or friends' medicine cabinet,” Pasierb said. “And they believe very truly that it's a safer way to get high. Which is a real falsehood.”
No one knows better than Salisbury, Mass., police chief Dave L’Esperance, who’s witnessed four kids younger than 22 die from prescription drug overdoses.
“I wish I could find a word synonymous but stronger than ‘epidemic,’” L’Esperance said.
During his 20 years on a regional drug task force, L’Esperance saw the junkies’ drug of choice shift from crack cocaine to anti-anxiety medications like Klonopin, and painkillers, such as OxyContin.
“Who's the enemy here? I mean it's not like cocaine where it's from Columbia,” he said. “It's not heroin from Afghanistan. This stuff is manufactured right here.”
But this one soldier in the war on drugs couldn’t keep every kid clean. Not even one living under his own roof.
Earlier this year, one of those four local boys who lost his life was the chief’s 20-year-old son, Christopher.
Couric asked him: “When did you first realize that your son Christopher had a drug problem?”
“Probably when he was about 15,” L’Esperance said.
“He started abusing methadone wafers?” Couric asked. “Had you ever heard of that before, Chief?”
“No, no,” he said. “Prescription. Synthetic heroin is what it is.”
Couric asked: “How was it discovered that he had OD’d?”
“I found him,” L’Esperance said. “It's happenin' everywhere. It can happen in the school parkin' lot. It can happen in your driveway.”
It happened because these drugs are so accessible, and kids think they’re invincible.
“I feel fine when I take these pills,” Erin said. “Now, I've done it and it's not that bad.”
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See all 26 CommentsSeriously, though, I hope that people get the message to carefully monitor any pain medication they or their children have been prescribed. It would seem common sense that if something affects you so strongly that there have to be side effects to look out for. Pharmacies give you little printouts with every prescription I fill listing them, and it takes 15 seconds to scan over the high points. I also hope that I can teach my own children that "easy" solutions to getting through the day always, always, always have repercussions. How sad that some people think their everyday life and everyday feelings aren''t good enough and have to be chemically enhanced.
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Erin is nothing but a drug attic, period, what else could you possibly call it, she is a drug attic. She needs help not publicity, she is a druggie, Hear that Erin you are a DRUGGIE.
Millions seriously injured and damaged all in the name of profit and population control.
Quacks more than willing to hook children and adults on dangerous psych drugs.
Yeah, I''d say we might have a problem.
http://www.ssristories.com/index.php
http://www.newstarget.com
nhttp://www.naturalcures.com
Most teens won''t realize that they are harmful until they have a personal experience to themself, or a close friend or family member, or even just an acquaintance. This will stop their use because they will see it is harmful.
Sometimes we teens have to learn from experience or mistakes, not just be told it by an adult, news, or school.
'' .. most folk most time offer free food medicine and shelter and infinite wishes come true for each and all for ever and ever more, but only because i spank them when they refuse, all in all though, their not all that special, for all the infinite stuff the infinite masses dole out to the infinite masses, most folk most time inveitably supply 99.infin9% of their own food medicine and infinite wishes come true and each supplys only .infin01% of the food medicine and infinite wishes come true of the others combined and only .infin01% of .infin01% of any one other .. ''
People die of drug overdose. Should we put them to death for using drugs?
People ruin their lives taking drugs. Should we ruin their lives by putting them in prison for years?
People make bad choices. Should we take away their freedom?
What is the solution? Even if people make bad choices that destroy lives, why do you think you can make their choices for them? Who made you gods?
I would rather take my chances being free than know for certain I will be a slave.
I have come to believe that the government and the drug companies are in bed together on what medications are made available, how much and when. There could be a cure for cancer out there right now but just think of the loss of profit to the government and the drug companies when they can no longer charge huge amounts of money for supposed anti-cancer drugs and surgeries.
I believe that the goverment knew years before it came out to the public that cigarette smoking was dangerous to our health but the government and the tobacco companies were making big bucks and wanted to make as much as they could before the general public found out the truth on their own. Then the government shunned the tobacco companies, making it entirely their fault for producing a cancer-causing agent and proceeded to hike up taxes on this product in their attempt to protect the public (ha-ha) and make it harder for people to continue to purchase cigarettes. Another lie from the government, and even more profits!!
'' .. it''s my infinite eternal storyboards, so i can change it, yet each inside storyboards must consent, as it''s the infinite eternal storyboards of each, but each goes in infinite directions, and most of those directions will favor me and my will, as will my directions favor their wills, and most directions that do not favor my will, favor my eternal will though not my local, and few if any defy all my infinite wills .. ''
'' .. evil is despicable; however, dressed girls with badges and bombs disciplining naked lazy ignorant profane blemished promiscuous man *** is not only justice, but good wholesome satisfying justice .. ''
'' .. with a few scraps of market share, one can dare all the adults or feed them, you''ll not find them feeding in my market share .. ''
'' .. if we market buses, the young, old, sick, and handicapped will be provided for, and their rapists will get stealth planes, so market cars, and the rapists will settle for cars .. ''
'' .. 33 sick beds across 4.5 countys to visit 132 folk for swapping a quarter with each, and for conjuring 11 new foods, 11 new sheltets, and 11 new misc other such each night, each sick bed an 11,335 square foot spore bloom weed dragon trail fickle first aid lunch farm cottage studio trail crossing yseedsberry trail group drifting swimming village to village and trail to trail about 3 to 27 miles per hour .. ''
Millions seriously injured and damaged all in the name of profit and population control.
Quacks more than willing to hook children and adults on dangerous psych drugs.
Yeah, I''''''''d say we might have a problem.
http://www.ssristories.c
om/index.php
http://www.newstarget.com
nhttp://www.naturalcures.com
Posted by AheadOfCrowd at 08:28 PM : Nov 26, 2007
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What is so funny about this is the NeoCon''s have sold us for decades on the lie that pot would distroy our kids lives. All the while the rich CEO''s at drug Companies make Millions. Gosh?! How much did we spend last year on the War on Drugs? LMAO
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