Special report sheds light on frightening underground culture
By Kelsey Watts, KTVZ.COM
Prescription pills are now abused more by teens than cocaine, heroin, or meth. Kids who would never try those so-called 'street drugs' often feel okay taking pills.
Most teenagers know the dangers of using meth or cocaine - but one of the most harmful drugs your teen could be using is legal, and is probably in your own home right now.
Abusing prescription drugs is an alarming new trend, and it's catching on fast among students right here in Central Oregon.
Teens take pills from friends, or their own medicine cabinet at home, then bring them to school or share them at parties.
Most of the time, they have no idea what they're taking; it's a very risky game, and they're gambling with their lives.
"You could be a star athlete, a star student, cheerleader, vibrant boy or girl, and it takes one incident to be a permanent life-changer for them and their families," explained Dr. Leo Savage, the Director of the Emergency Room at Mountain View Hospital in Madras.
"They feel it's a safe drug to start with," said an undercover drug agent with the Central Oregon Drug Enforcement team. "A lot of them don't see it as being illegal - it's prescribed by a doctor so it must be okay."
It's that faulty thinking that's already landed several local students in the hospital - kids as young as 11, overdosing on Vicodin and Oxycodone at parties, even at school.
"It's very scary," said the mother of a Jefferson County middle-schooler, who asked to remain anonymous. "I thought we had a meth problem. I didn't realize we had a prescription drug problem this bad."
In the last year, at least three local students have been rushed from school to the ER to get their stomachs pumped.
Groups of as many as 12 students have been caught bringing pills to school and trading them with each other.
"It's relatively new," said the CODE Team officer. "It's just like anything that catches on. Word goes through the schools, somebody talks about it, someone else tries it, and it becomes wildfire."
With this trend comes a whole new vocabulary that's now becoming familiar not only among teens - but with schools, counselors, even doctors.
Terms like "cocktailing," where teens mix different narcotics and blindly take them, or mix them with alcohol or other drugs. Teens also dump bottles of pills into a bowl at "pharming parties," where they take handfuls of who knows what, just to get high.
"Breaking bars" is another new one: "Those are prescription benzodiazapine-like medicine that you can break into pieces and are quite powerful," Dr. Savage explained.
They are square-shaped pills that kids crush into powder, and eat.
"Twelve, 13 years old, already well familiar with all the names and all the drugs," he said. "Again, the 'pharmies,' as they're called, that class of meds that's prescription pharmaceuticals that they are abusing, are very much around, and you'd be surprised at how much your kid knows about your pharmaceuticals."
National statistics show teens are three times more likely to overdose on prescription pills rather than illegal 'street' drugs.
"Really, the message we need to get out is how dangerous it is," said Mandy Puckett, a certified prevention specialist with Best Care Treatment Services. "They may be legal, in terms of being prescribed by a doctor, but they can be just as addictive. They can be just as dangerous."
Plus, pills are much easier to get. In a national survey, 64 percent of teens 12-17 say they didn't have to look farther than their own home, often getting pills from their own medicine cabinet, or from friends and relatives.
"It's rough, times have changed, definitely," admitted the CODE officer. "When I was in school, it was chewing tobacco and cigarettes, a can of beer from Dad's ice chest. Now, their experiment has moved away from those things to prescription pills. It's a lot more dangerous."
"It's a very prevalent situation in our schools, and in our very young, who are now familiar with Vicodin on a name basis, which is disturbing," Dr. Savage explained.
Teens Popping Pills: Fighting the Problem
Jefferson County, in particular, is taking big steps to get ahead of this problem.
It's focusing on prevention, through new school programs, awareness campaigns, and a partnership with local police that's the first of it's kind in the entire state.
"We're just starting to learn about it now, and what we're trying to do is get ahead of the game, not be reactive, be proactive, and try and prevent the problem, and for once, not be behind what's going on," said Mandy Puckett, a prevention specialist with Best Care Treatment Services.
To say she has a challenging job, doesn't even come close.
"This [problem] is new to everyone - it's catching on quick," the undercover agent with the Central Oregon Drug Enforcement team said.
Teenagers playing with narcotics like Oxycodone and Vicodin, mixing pills at parties, even at school. "One kid has a couple pills, then his friend has five, and somebody else has something different, and they're exchanging them and trading them and trying them," said the CODE Team officer.
Mandy Puckett has learned very quickly about this alarming new trend, and already, Jefferson County has taken major steps in fighting it.
It's just passed the "Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Protocol," known as 'ATOP' - a program that's the first of it's kind in the state of Oregon.
"It's a public policy where we ask law enforcement to do things a little differently," Puckett explained.
Here's how it works: When police are called to an underage party, they're asked to consistently cite every teen drinking, taking pills, or using other drugs.
"The reason for that is, that information goes to the Juvenile Department, and every youth has the chance to be looked at, assessed, to see what level their problem is," said Puckett.
It may be caught early enough - parents can successfully intervene. But there's also a chance a child's drug problem may be far worse than anyone had realized.
"That's the danger with cutting kids breaks, is you never really know where they're at," she explained. "They may be into abuse, they may be right at the beginning of the experimental stages."
Citing users is just one part of the ATOP protocol.
Research shows teens who are not using but are at those parties have a higher risk of developing the behavior themselves. So police are also asked to document those teens as witnesses. Their names also go to the Juvenile Department, and their parents are then notified.
"Many, many times, the parents are not aware their youth are involved in those situations," Puckett said.
"Research shows that parents are the number one influence over teens - even moreso than peers - and parents can intervene and say, 'Hey, were you at this party? Let's talk about it.' And what we hope is by that communication happening, those youth don't go to those parties any more."
In its first year, the ATOP protocol is already proving successful. So far, the parents of 16 youth present, but not using, have been notified, and not one of those teens has been back through the system.
Another step being taken is a school curriculum called "Too Good for Drugs." It's starting at the third grade level in all Jefferson County and Culver schools. High schoolers get their own version of the 10-week program, and take interactive assignments home to their parents.
"The parent still has the responsibility, and they still have the control over their situation," Puckett said. "It doesn't have to get to law enforcement, it doesn't have to rise to that level."
Another piece of this intricate puzzle is simply awareness. At a presentation on prescription drug abuse in Madras, an ER doctor, drug enforcement officer and treatment specialist all spoke out about the problem.
It's a message that's literally hit home for the mother of a young son in Jefferson County, who asked to remain anonymous.
"I do worry, he's 11, he's at the middle school, and he's really curious," she said. "So I'm definitely going to be talking to him about it."
The easiest way for every parent to keep kids safe: clean out medicine cabinets.
"We encourage people, when you're done with your medicine, don't save it for a rainy day, dump it," Puckett said.
Because something as simple as a toothache or sprained ankle can put pills in the wrong hands.
However, pills should not be flushed (polluting the watershed) or simply thrown out, where they could be grabbed by someone wanting to use them.
The safest way to get rid of them is by bringing them to a dump site, and there are plenty of opportunities in all three local counties.
Jefferson County is holding a collection all next week, Nov. 16-20, where you can drop off your old pills at the Madras Police station, or the Sheriff's Office during business hours.
Bend Police will also take your prescription pills during business hours, year-round, and the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office has a similar program. And Prineville Police have a 24-hour anonymous drop box outside their station.
