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Phyllis Hoppes
PDF: An Analysis of Recent Trends on the Emerging Drug Threat
Sometimes the temptations teens face are closer to home than their parents realize.
Many middle- and high-schoolers head for the medicine cabinets in their homes for what’s thought to be a “safe” high, studies show, but doctors and addiction counselors say such drug use is anything but risk free.
“Parents notice their prescriptions are missing and just go out and get refills and never think anything about it,” said Phyllis Hoppes, director of the Scholze Adolescent Center. “They thought they lost the pills or whatever, and they never put two and two together.”
At the Scholze Center, a Chattanooga residential drug treatment facility for adolescents, 90 percent or more of the teens have abused prescription drugs, Ms. Hoppes said.
High-powered narcotic prescription painkillers, nervous system depressants and even over-the-counter cough syrup threaten teen health and are creating a new wave of addicted youngsters, national figures suggest.
An Office of National Drug Control Policy report suggests that 62 percent of students surveyed know they could find drugs easily in their own homes.
In February, Timothy Lebron Smith, 16, died after taking four oxycodone pills given to him by a 15-year-old classmate, according to Catoosa County Sheriff Phil Summers. The boy’s parents notified police when they realized the pills were missing. The 15-year-old was charged with involuntary manslaughter in Mr. Smith’s death.
PILLS A PRIORITY
Knox County District Attorney Randy Nichols told a Chattanooga Times Free Press editorial board last week that teens are turning away from street drugs.
“Kids tell us on surveys that meth is ‘dirty,’” he said. “The bad side of that is that it’s now prescription drugs they are after, and those are ‘clean.’ They aren’t afraid to have a pill party where everyone puts the pills in a bowl and eats them.”
Mr. Nichols said alcohol abuse “is still king daddy, but (pills) are moving in, and that’s going to be a real problem for us.”
A National Institute on Drug Abuse-sponsored study from 2006 to 2007 found the use of marijuana by eighth-graders declined from 11.7 percent to 10.3 percent, and methamphetamine abuse among 12th-graders was 1.6 percent, about half the level in the peak year of 2002.
Physicians warn mixing narcotic pain relievers with central nervous system depressants can be lethal. Drinking alcohol with the pills compounds their effect.
“Unfortunately, they start mixing and matching, or doing too many at one particular time,” said Dr. Peter Rawlings, a Chattanooga pediatrician. “These kids just don’t understand. They are trying to experiment, and unfortunately it can be deadly or addictive.”
Prescription pills don’t have the same stigma as street drugs, said Dr. Deborah Poteet-Johnson of AdMed, a Chattanooga practice devoted to adolescents and young adults.
“Most people think, ‘Well, if a doctor prescribed it, that it’s OK.’ They don’t think that abuse of a prescription is a big deal,” Dr. Poteet-Johnson said.
“There is a stigma attached to street drugs — heroin, cocaine and crack — it’s more acceptable to take a pill than to go out into the streets and buy something,” she said.
Ms. Hoppes said getting the drugs out of teens’ hands might be as easy as cleaning out the medicine cabinet regularly. Parents should discard medication that isn’t being used.
“You know how you see those TV shows where guests go through the medicine cabinet because they are nosey? Well, kids are doing that,” Ms. Hoppes said. “Even if it isn’t your kid, one of their friends could want the drugs.”
The best practice is to lock up all medications, especially painkillers, depressants and stimulants, the doctors said. And both Dr. Poteet-Johnson and Ms. Hoppes said staying active in your child’s life is even more important.
“It’s the same things we’ve been saying for years,” Ms. Hoppes said. “If you know your child and their friends, you’ll notice when something is different.”
Betsye Bishop, who has a seventh-grader at Ringgold Middle School, said the recent overdose death worries her.
“As a parent, I want to know what’s out there,” she said. “I don’t think students have any idea. I don’t think they’ve caught on to how serious this stuff is.”
Staff writer Ryan Harris contributed to this story.
Adam Crisp covers education issues for the Times Free Press. He joined the paper's staff in 2007 and initially covered crime, public safety, courts and general assignment topics. Prior to Chattanooga, Crisp was a crime reporter at the Savannah Morning News and has been a reporter and editor at community newspapers in southeast Georgia. In college, he led his student paper to a first-place general excellence award from the Georgia College Press Association. He earned ...
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