Parents learn dangers of prescription-drug abuse

Teenagers reported to be attending ‘pharming’ parties

BY REBECCA MORTON Staff Writer

MATT DENTON Marlboro police Lt. Douglas Van Note (l) responds to a question, as Pam Flynn, Barbara Sprechman and Sam Nunes look on during a presentation about the growing problem of teenagers' abuse of prescription drugs. The event took place April 8 atMarlboro High School. MATT DENTON Marlboro police Lt. Douglas Van Note (l) responds to a question, as Pam Flynn, Barbara Sprechman and Sam Nunes look on during a presentation about the growing problem of teenagers’ abuse of prescription drugs. The event took place April 8 atMarlboro High School. MARLBORO – Prescription-drug abuse is on the rise across the nation and is becoming an epidemic, and that problem has found its way into local schools. Parents who attended a lecture on the topic “What’sMissing FromYourMedicine Cabinet?” were warned not to assume their child is not participating in that type of drug abuse.

A group of professionals and several high school students took part in the presentation at Marlboro High School on April 8.

The program, arranged by the Marlboro TownshipAlliance for the Prevention of Substance Abuse and the Marlboro Police Department, featured a presentation by U.S. Drug EnforcementAdministration Special Agent Douglas Collier.

Collier is heading up the “Pharming in the Garden State” program, which is trying to make parents more aware of legal drugs that are being taken illegally.

MATT DENTON Linda Surks speaks to the audience about losing her son to prescription drugs as pictures of him are projected in the background. MATT DENTON Linda Surks speaks to the audience about losing her son to prescription drugs as pictures of him are projected in the background. Concerned parents entered the high school auditorium as public-service announcements played on two large screens. The announcements discussed ways of bringing the dangers of drugs into conversations with children and noted the consequences of failing to have such a conversation.

Collier explained how misusing prescription medications can be deadly.

In 2005, 4.7 million people age 12 and over used narcotic pain relievers for nonmedical uses, Collier said. Information provided to parents stated that every day 2,500 youths between the ages of 12 and 17 try a painkiller for the first time. It also was noted that prescription drugs are the drugs of choice for 12- and 13-year-olds.

“We have become a pill society,” Collier said.

The special agent clarified that taking legal medications correctly when they are prescribed by a doctor is appropriate; however, it is when legal prescription medications are diverted or unlawfully transferred to another individual that problems can arise.

Collier told parents they must be aware of their behaviors, noting that children will notice when their parents keep a prescription to use “just in case that pain comes back.”

He said emergency room visits are up 25 percent related to nonmedical use of pharmaceuticals.

“You get that phone call from one of us, ‘You need to come to the hospital,’ which is traumatic. It’s traumatic and serious that your son or daughter just overdosed on a nonmedical use of an opiod. And you’re saying ‘What is that?’ ” Collier said, adding that he has heard parents say that at least the drug that was abused was not heroin or cocaine.

He stressed that misusing legal pharmaceuticals is just as dangerous as using illegal drugs.

The DEA agent shared study results that indicated that 40 percent of teenagers believe that using prescription drugs to get high is safer than using street drugs. He discussed pills such as Oxycontin, which is designed to be released in the body over a period of time, and noted that teenagers may crush the pill in their mouth to release 100 percent of the medicine into their body at one time.

Collier discussed how the drugs are not only being stolen from medicine cabinets, but are also easily obtained online. In a test, he said DEAagents have logged on to “pharmaceutical” Internet Web sites and discovered that all that is asked for in order to purchase drugs is a person’s height, weight and a credit card number.

One parent later asked if there were any identifying names or titles to look for on a credit card statement.

Collier said a lot of times the Web sites are masked by a different name on a credit card statement, but he suggested that parents should be aware of what is being sent to the home.

Linda Surks, the founder and coordinator of theMiddlesex County Substance Abuse Coalition and a worker with the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, shared a personal tragedy with those in attendance. She described how her son, Jason, died of an overdose of prescription drugs when he was 19.

Surks described her son as a typical suburban youth in New Jersey, noting that he participated in a youth group and worked as a camp counselor. Jason also spent time working in her office, Surks said, viewing the literature on substance abuse problems. She recalled that it was not until she entered the emergency room that she learned of her son’s drug problem.

“Here I am a preventionist, teaching parents what to look for to protect your kids from drugs and I discovered that my son was abusing drugs,” Surks said. “My message is that you could do everything and still have a bad outcome, but you cannot ever give up.”

Surks pointed out the dangers of the Internet, the place where her son purchased drugs. After his death, Surks said, she learned of Web sites Jason had visited, which outlined “safe” ways to abuse certain medications.

She explained that her son, who was in a pharmaceutical program at Rutgers University, believed the Web sites and thought he was being safe.

Panel members answered questions that were submitted anonymously. The panel included Collier; Surks; Marlboro police Lt. Douglas Van Note; Marlboro High School Student Assistance Counselor Veronica Clerico-Knittel;Marlboro Middle School psychologistNancy Asher Shultz; Pam Flynn, who is the assistant nurse manager of the emergency department at CentraState Medical Center; Barbara Sprechman, who is the director of community services at Prevention First; and students Sam Nunes and Jessica Scardino.

Pharming parties are events where medicine cabinets are raided and the teenagers bring the drugs to someone’s home. The pills are all tossed into a bowl and the partygoers then pick some to sample, Van Note explained.

“We have it here, we have it in Manalapan, it’s in every town. That’s why we need you to know and understand what is in your medicine cabinet. Just like you lock up your liquor cabinet, lock up the medicine cabinet,” Van Note said.

Jessica, who is a sophomore at Marlboro High School, related her own experiences with this type of parties. She said a group of girls she knew took part in a pharming gathering one Friday night.

“They were telling me about it at school, actually proud of it. So parents need to be aware. If they go out on a Friday or if their children are having friends over, be aware of what they are actually doing,” said Jessica, 15.

Over-the-counter medications such as cough medicine and Sudafed are being used for hallucinogenic highs, Collier told the parents.

Flynn reported that at CentraState Medical Center, Freehold Township, there were 163 overdoses involving over-thecounter drugs in 2007. She said the most common pills that are being abused are Oxycontin and Vicodin (both painkillers).

“Drug abuse does not discriminate,” Clerico-Knittel said when a parent asked if there is a connection between students who do not achieve high grades and drug use.

“They are all at risk,” Shultz added.

Jessica told the parents that honor students do drugs, too.

Sprechman related that prescription drugs are seen as being a gateway to heroin use.

If a pharming party is held at a home, the homeowner is held responsible for whatever may occur, Van Note said.

“Make sure you know who is coming to that party and be present. Don’t go upstairs in a house that’s 4,000 square feet and they are downstairs in the basement,” the lieutenant told parents. “Become involved; that’s the most important thing. You’re a parent; they may not like it, but it’s still your home.And if you don’t become involved, that home may become ours, and that’s not a good thing.”

If school administrators hear about such a party being planned, they relate that information to the police, Van Note said, adding that police will then contact the homeowners in advance.

Shultz said even at the middle school level, these type of parties are occurring.

Van Note said the host of a party could be charged with distribution of a controlled dangerous substance if pills are being provided. Teenagers could face charges of possession of a controlled dangerous substance.

Students who are caught with drugs in school are removed from the building by police, subject to a drug test, suspended and could be expelled, Clerico-Knittel said.

“It’s not just in inner cities, it’s surprisingly in a great town like this,” Jessica said about drugs in schools.

Sam added that drugs are prevalent not only in schools, but in today’s society.

“Reach out as much as you can to your children,” Sam offered to parents as his parting words.

Flynn offered signs or symptoms to look for if a parent suspects his or her child is high. The pupils of the eyes may be dilated or constricted, or the child may appear lethargic, she said, although the symptoms depend on the type of drug being used.

The panel members urged parents to dispose of any medications they no longer have a use for by turning them in to police or by mixing them in the trash with items such as coffee grounds or cat litter.

Marlboro parent Maureen O’Connell said she believe the panel members were extremely helpful, especially hearing firsthand from the students about the atmosphere of the school.

“I feel like there’s a lot of support from the staff,” O’Connell said.

She asked if a similar presentation would be offered to the students themselves.

Marlboro High School Principal Gerald North said a tape of the event would be presented to the high school students. North said the vast majority of teenagers who attend the school are not doing anything, but he said the more you teach young people, the more the students say they do not want drug use at their school.

The event is expected to air on Marlboro’s cable television Channel 77.