Over The Counter, Into The Grave

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THE CORYDON DEMOCRAT | OCTOBER 7, 2009

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Over the counter, into the grave Lanesville students, parents learn dangers lurking in medicine cabinets ALAN STEWART

Drugs most often used and abused by teenagers:

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im Manlove knows all too well the dangers of prescription drug abuse. His 16-year-old son, David, died in a drug-related drowning just 11 months after he and his wife learned of their son’s abuse. The teen was inhaling computer duster in a pool when the chemicals in the duster froze his lungs and interrupted the electrical activity in his heart, putting him into cardiac arrest. Kim Manlove said his son was inhaling computer duster not because it was his drug of choice, but his drug of opportunity. Manlove, a recovering addict himself who has appeared on the CBS “Morning Show,” Good Morning America on ABC and on the Fox News Channel, spoke to Lanesville students last Tuesday morning about the dangers of prescription drug abuse then held a similar conference open to parents that evening. “I’ll be an addict and an alcoholic for the rest of my life just like I’ll always be a dad who lost his son,” Manlove said. While drugs like marijuana or methamphetamine typically steal the media’s spotlight, Manlove said the prescription and over-thecounter drugs that are contained in nearly each home in America are every bit as dangerous and are abused just as much. A student survey of 11th graders in Harrison County this year — conducted by the Harrison County Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition — showed the following amounts of drug use: amphetamines, 17.1 percent (state average, 8.1 percent); Ritalin/Adderall, 19.5 percent (state average, 11.1 percent); tranquilizer use, 26 percent (state average, 11.8 percent); narcotics, 23.6 percent (state average, 11.3 percent); and over-the-counter drug use, 26.8 percent (state average, 12.7 percent). In Indiana, 8 percent of students age 12 to 17 have abused a drug in the past year. Jeff Skaggs, president of the HCSAPC, said that the abuse of medications is a quickly growing trend among youth. Nationally since 1996, among eighth-graders, 38 percent have tried alcohol, 57 percent have tried cigarettes and 53 percent have abused some type of drug. In the past 30 days, 22 percent of high school seniors have used an illicit drug, almost 30 percent have consumed a beer and 25 percent have had five or more drinks in a row in the past two weeks (binge drinking). Prescription drug abuse among teens has increased from 8 percent in 2006 to 16 percent in 2008. Most prescription and over-the-counter medications are obtained from the child’s own home or a friend’s house. The leading drugs being stolen from the medicine cabinets are

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Alcohol — Street name: booze. Teen usage: 1 in 2 teens drank alcohol in the past year. What teens have heard: makes a boring night fun. What it does: impairs reasoning; long-term heavy drinking can lead to alcoholism and liver and heart disease. Important to know: Being a child of an alcoholic places children at greater risk for developing alcohol problems.

— Marijuana Street name: weed, pot, skunk. Teen usage: 2 in 5 teens have used marijuana in their lifetime. What teens have heard: makes user relaxed, it’s not dangerous and often it’s easier to obtain than alcohol. What it does: causes memory and learning problems, hallucinations and depersonalization. Important to know: Contrary to popular belief, marijuana can be addictive. ALAN STEWART

Kim Manlove of Indianapolis points out that parents make a difference in their children’s lives when it comes to protecting them from prescription and over-the-counter drug abuse. Manlove delivered a speech in the Lanesville Junior-Senior High School gymnasium Sept. 29. Vicodin, OxyContin, Adderall, Ritalin, Xanax or Valium and some cough medicines such as Robitussin. The Indianapolis speaker described what are called “farming parties,” where teens raid their parents’ medicine cabinets and take pills, then put them into a collective bowl at the party. The pills are then stirred and randomly taken. Manlove said the key to keeping children from abusing prescription and OTC drugs is early intervention. “Kids who learn of the dangers of drugs are 50 percent less likely to use drugs. Nine out of 10 alcoholics started drinking alcohol as a teenager. And a child that gets through their teenage years without using drugs is not likely to abuse drugs in their lifetime,” Manlove said. “The key is intervention.” Rob Coffin, a recovering addict who spoke after Manlove’s presentation, started abusing OTC drugs at the age of 9. “I told my parents that I hurt and they’d give me a pill. I wasn’t asking for beer or a joint or cocaine. I was asking for something for pain, and they were more than willing to just give it to me,” Coffin said. “They would catch on and wouldn’t give me anything for a while, but then I’d say I had a toothache and they’d give me something to make me feel better.” Factors that could play into whether or not a child abuses drugs include: family history of abuse; friends who use; early first use of a

drug; diagnosed or nondiagnosed depression or medical health issues; and problems in school stemming from learning disabilities. Teenagers face all sorts of things during one of the most impressionable times of their lives: general stress, relationships, friends, family pressures and issues, transitions such as moving from junior high to high school and trying to fit in, and trying to find their independence. Manlove said part of the reason teens and children are so susceptible to becoming addicted is because medical research has shown that the human brain stops developing at 25 years of age for girls, and 26 years of age for boys. The rear of the brain, which controls breathing and vital functions, develops first; the front of the brain, which develops last, controls judgment, critical thinking and thinking about the ramifications of a person’s actions. That’s one reason that Manlove says parents need to be involved in their children’s lives. He said another reason is because, according to MTV, almost one-half of children and teenagers name a parent as a hero. “Twenty percent of teens are never talked to about drug abuse, and 51 percent of teens are never talked to about prescription drug abuse,” Manlove said. Manlove offered several tips for parents to help avoid drug abuse: • Know who your child is

with. • Know where your child is at all times. • Explain the expectations of the child at home and communicate the dangers of abuse, and let the child know you disapprove of any drug use. • Communicate with parents of your child’s friends. Follow up with other parents to see if your child really is where he/she says they he/she is going to be. • Establish and enforce a no-use policy and feel free to snoop in the child’s room. (It’s your house and you are doing this for them and their safety.) Coffin said he never had much of a curfew for most of his childhood, which may have played a small part in his addiction. “And when we did, it wasn’t really enforced. I’d have to be home at 8, and I’d call and say that I was going to be a little late because I had to finish something. What I had to finish was finish sobering up.” Manlove said if parents discover their children are using or abusing prescription medication, they shouldn’t panic. “Start a dialogue with your child. Set limits and enforce consequences and, finally, get outside, professional help,” Manlove said. The event was sponsored by a grant from the Harrison County Substance Abuse Coalition and students of Lanesville High School.

Inhalants — Street name: whippets, bagging, dusting, huffing. Teen usage: 1 in 5 teens have used inhalants in their lifetime. What teens have heard: a cheap, 20-minute high. What it does: can induce death; chronic exposure can produce significant damage to heart, lungs, liver and kidneys. Important to know: More than 100 common products are potential inhalants that can kill on the first use or anytime thereafter.

— Prescription pain relievers Street name: OxyContin, Vicodin, Codeine, Percocet. Teen usage: 1 in 5 teens have abused prescription pain relievers in their lifetime. What teens have heard: a free high, straight from the medicine cabinet. What it does: a large single dose can cause severe respiratory depression that can lead to death. Important to know: Abusing prescription painkillers is just as dangerous, addictive and deadly as using heroin.

Cough medicine/DXM — Street name: Dex, tussin, syrup, skittles, robo. Teen usage: 1 in 10 teens have abused cough medicine in their lifetime. What teens have heard: causes a trippy high with various plateaus. What it does: can cause abdominal pain, extreme nausea and liver damage. Important to know: the “high” from cough medicine is caused by ingesting a large amount of dextromethorphan (DXM), a common ingredient found in many cough medications. INFORMATION FROM PARTNERSHIP FOR A DRUG-FREE AMERICA