A captivated audience of students, parents, and other local citizens assembled at Mount Miguel High School’s gymnasium this week for a forum on the dangers of prescription drug abuse. The presentation, led by San Diego Sheriff's Sgt. David Ross, profiled the rising trend of prescription drug abuse among local youth, and left a sobering impact on attendees.According to the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy, prescription drugs are the second most abused illegal drug (behind marijuana) by children ages 12-17 and the most commonly used among children ages 12-13. Drugs like Vicodin, Xanax, Valium and OxyContin are being substituted for “street drugs” because children assume they are safer, since they were prescribed by a doctor. What's more, they're often easily available in the family medicine cabinet.Ross has been working to increase awareness of OxyContin abuse in California, and he also helped establish the OXY Task Force in San Diego. “It runs the gamut of these drugs out there,” Ross said, as he scanned through mug shots of young addicts and dealers. “Oxy users become addicted almost immediately, and stay addicted for life.”When used properly, OxyContin, and similar opiate pills like morphine and codeine, can provide up to 12 hours of pain relief. Oxy abusers smoke melted pills or snort crushed pills, causing the time-released drug to enter the body instantaneously. Abusers say it "feels just like heroin, but you are functional and don’t pass out,” Ross said.Most addicts accidentally get hooked after an injury or simply turn to pills as an easy way to escape from problems. The main reason teens are using? A desire to fit in with the “popular kids” in hopes they will be invited to a “pharming party.” “The more you want to be like them, the more you want to use like them,” said a recovered Oxy addict in a video testimonial. “I didn’t even know Oxy was synthetic heroin until six months after I was already using it.”The home medicine cabinet is not the only place that students find prescription drugs. They obtain them from illegal Internet sites, pharmacy employee theft, and “dirty doctors.” Ross said border smuggling is also popular with kids, because they can easily trade electronics or other valuables for prescription drugs and heroin in Mexico. San Diego County has come a long way since shedding its title of “Meth Capital of America.” However, the alarming new prescription drug epidemic has law enforcement officials facing yet another battle, one that starts within the comfort of home. Parental involvement is key to winning the war, Ross said. Ross, a father of two, warned fellow parents in the audience. “Don’t be your kid’s friend. You need to be their parent, not an enabler,” he said. “You need to dig for answers.”From 2005-09, San Diego County experienced a 74 percent increase in deaths from prescription drugs, reaching a death toll of 621 in 2009. According to the Sheriff’s Department, the problem started in the upper-middle class areas north of La Jolla—affluent areas like Del Mar, Carmel Mountain, Rancho Bernardo and especially the Poway area. “Hot spots” for prescription drug activity in San Diego include everything within a 20-mile radius of where Ted Williams Parkway intersects with the I-15 and I-56.“These kids are paying upwards of $80 a pill and buying them like they are going out of style,” Ross said.Locally, sheriffs' deputies have identified Spring Valley as a problem area as well. Ross said he personally retrieved approximately 1,000 pills over a three-week period from 15 different dealers while staked out in the parking lot of Rally’s Hamburgers on Jamacha Road.Those who attended Wednesday's forum also heard from teens and families whose lives have been affected by prescription drugs.One was Poway High School graduate Aaron Rubin. Once, Rubin had it all. The charismatic teen was vibrant, smart and athletic, had a loving family and hundreds of friends. But, at 23 years old, Rubin made a choice that drastically changed his life forever. On Oct. 9, 2005, Aaron overdosed on OxyContin and other prescription drugs while at a friend’s house, causing him to have a heart attack and two strokes. He narrowly escaped death. Aaron is now a quadriplegic, unable to speak, and completely dependent on others. His parents, Sherrie and Mike Rubin, spoke to the Mount Miguel audience to educate families about the addictive nature of the pills in hopes of preventing further tragedies. “You are getting the opportunity to hear a powerful message about the serious consequences of your choices,” said Mike Rubin. “We never thought this could happen to us. It happens to good families and destroys your lives.”After Aaron’s overdose, the Rubins watched two other Poway families suffer as they lost their sons, Clayton Blackburn and James Joseph Wait, to fatal overdoses of OxyContin. Determined to ignite change, Sherrie Rubin launched a multifaceted outreach program in partnership with local law enforcement and the DEA called Rollin with Rubin in 2010. They are also in the process of forming a new nonprofit organization called H.O.P.E. Inc. (Heroin, Opiates, and Prescription pill Education).“Taking pills and partying helped Aaron be accepted by everyone, but when he overdosed those friends were not there to help him,” Sherrie Rubin said. “If you start down this path, it will have a very tragic ending. No party is worth it, no friend is worth it.”She then shared a passage from a journal that Aaron kept while in a rehab facility, prior to his overdose. “My life was not a life, but a roller coaster of pain, shame, sadness and depression. I am not me, I am losing myself,” Aaron wrote. Ross explained that most kids who fall into the deadly cycle of using Oxy and similar pills are just like Aaron—good students, with no prior arrests or behavioral problems. “They fly under the radar, so parents and educators don’t know until it’s too late,” he said.Ross shared the early warning signs of prescription drug abuse. Don’t miss the subtle signs, he said. If your child has become withdrawn from family events, has money issues, is always tired, or is always leaving, start asking questions. If you begin to notice a decline in academic or work performance, items missing from the house, or you catch them in lies, start checking their Facebook, MySpace, or texts for inappropriate conversations, Ross advised. Also, search their rooms for paraphernalia including tinfoil, hollowed-out pens, lighters, hose clamps, syringes and spoons. If your child seems to have a weak immune system, extreme weight loss, watery and sunken eyes, poor complexion, drowsiness and tremors, get help as soon as possible. Ross said it usually takes a minimum of six months in rehab, and a year’s worth of follow up treatment, to beat the addiction.
Courtesy:Kerry Yednak
Source: Poway Patch
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