Local doctors and child safety advocates say they have seen in increase in teenage prescription drug use including “skittle parties,” where teens dump various prescription drugs into a dish and randomly grab a handful to take.
Representatives from the Drug Enforcement Agency, Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office and Children’s Hospital at Erlanger held a news briefing this morning to discuss the problem.
Three unconscious teenagers were recently admitted to Children’s Hospital at Erlanger and the teens later said they had taken part in such a party, according to Dr. Darwin Koller, medical director of the emergency department at Children’s.
Koller said the hospital saw 34 teenagers who had taken toxic substances in 2011, with 7 percent of those taking multiple drugs.
“The true incidence was likely higher; we rarely get a real version of what was taken and how it was taken,” Koller said. “Many children are not aware of what a combination of these drugs can do.”