Pubdate: Fri, 16 Mar 2007 Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA) Copyright: 2007 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Contact: http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/letters/sendletter.html Website: http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/28 Author: D. Aileen Dodd TALK TO FOCUS ON TEENS' ABUSE OF PRESCRIBED DRUGS She used them to stay awake longer, to study harder, to lose weight, to lose herself. The pills were too easy to get. "I didn't have to call a dealer. All of my friends were using," said Sara Johnson, 17, a Michigan student who will speak to pharmacists and parents today about prescription drug abuse by teens. "We would raid our medicine cabinets. We would steal them from the pharmacy. They were right in my classroom everyday." Johnson and a metro Atlanta teen recovering from prescription drug abuse will lend their voices of experience to a discussion at the American Pharmacists Association conference about how to keep the drugs out of the hands of kids looking for an easy high. The pharmacists are meeting at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta for a national convention. According to a recent study by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, more teens are abusing drugs found in their own medicine cabinets than those on the streets. "Marijuana use is down, methamphetamine use is down, steroid use is down," said Scott Burns, deputy director for state, local, and tribal affairs for the federal drug control office. "Just about every category of substance abuse is down, except prescription drug abuse, which has alarmingly increased ... about 150 percent over the last five years." To help stop the abuse, the Office of National Drug Control Policy will announce a partnership with the American Pharmacy Association. Together, they hope to educate parents about what they see as a silent epidemic. They will even go as far as asking parents to "childproof" their homes to keep over-the-counter drugs away from their teens. Teens and their visiting friends could easily go the bathroom and "help themselves ... without you even knowing it," said Winnie Landis, incoming president of the pharmacists group. Landis said pharmacists should be telling patients and parents to hide their current medications and throw away their old pills in containers partially filled with water so the pills can no longer be used. "A lot of the responsibility falls on the parent to understand that this is a problem," she said. Teens use prescription drugs like Adderrall and Oxycontin because they think it is a safe high. Mixing several drugs could cause seizures, coma and even death, pharmacy officials said. Johnson said she was able to hide her addiction from her parents by avoiding them. She would pop pills by the handful that were set out in a bowl like mixed nuts at "pharming" parties without knowing what they were. She went days without eating or sleeping. "I didn't think I had a problem," she said. "I'm from the suburbs. I'm a little Catholic school girl. I don't do that kind of stuff." States also are stepping up to take some responsibility to stop drug abuse, too. Burns said 33 states have initiated prescription drug monitoring programs so doctors and pharmacists can track prescriptions on the day they are written. That way, a teen can't go to more than one doctor complaining of an ailment and get a prescription written by each one. "Georgia is not one of [the states that track]," Burns said said. "We hope they will be soon." Stiffer controls may have helped Chase Sewell, 19, of Marietta stay on track. He started using prescription drugs at Wheeler High School "to feel comfortable in his skin," he said. That led to drinking and stronger drugs. Now he is sober and working to keep other kids from abusing prescription drugs. "It's a growing epidemic," Sewell said. And for those who are using, there is light at the end of the road. "They can get better. I am proof of that. I'm back in school. I'm working toward a career. I'm happy." LEARN MORE Pharmacists have databases that can help parents identify pills found in their children's rooms. For more information on prescription drug abuse, visit www.theantidrug.com. - --- MAP posted-by: Elaine