As a teenager, Kathy Deschner’s son became addicted to prescription medication after being prescribed Vicodin for a football injury. He died of a heroin overdose at age 24.
Prescription medicine is a critical piece of our cultural fabric —“a pill for every ill.”
All you have to do is turn on the TV, listen to the radio or view ads on the internet or in the newspaper to see and hear about the latest medicine that can cure migraines, treat pain and stress, keep you more alert, help you sleep or address depression. We walk that fine line between ensuring access to needed medications to preventing abuse and addiction.
My family’s story took place over 22 years, ago, but it is being played out every day across the country.
Our son loved every sport: soccer, basketball, baseball and most of all football. When our son tore his anterior cruciate ligament playing football, his doctor prescribed Vicodin. To my dismay, he prescribed a very large dose of pain meds. I spoke with the doctor about this and told him that quantity wasn’t necessary. The doctor said the patient was 15, and it was between the patient and the doctor. He proceeded to prescribe a large quantity.
We refused to fill them, but still, we found ourselves thrust in the middle of a prescription drug abuse problem. We had the help of an expert Prevention Intervention Specialist at our son’s high school who helped us understand how quickly the addiction had taken hold of our son, and we sent him to treatment for the first time at age of 16.
In spite of many times in treatment and his many attempts at recovery, his addiction to prescription drugs eventually lead to heroin addiction and our son died of an accidental overdose at the age of 24.
In this age of a “pill for every ill,” we live in a society where the potential for prescription drug abuse and addiction is ever-present. Among teens and young adults, next to marijuana, Rx drugs are abused the most. According to the latest National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 6.8 million people or 2.6 percent of the population were unmedical users of Rx medicines in 2012. Out of this number, 2.8 percent represent young people, aged 12-17. Data also tells us that they’re abusing pain relievers, depressants and stimulants to go to sleep, wake up, stay alert and/or get high.
Our local data from the Washington State Healthy Youth Survey given in October 2016, shows that 94 percent (an average of 8th, 10th and 12th graders) had not used prescription drugs not prescribed to them in the past 30 days.
While we can say, “great job,” we need to remember a few things.
Many teens and young adults still believe that prescription medicines are safer to abuse than illegal drugs.
These medicines are easy to get — about 54 percent of those abusing these medicines obtain them from friends and relatives.
Nationally, approximately 2,000 teens each day misuse or abuse prescription drugs for the first time.
As such, some teens and young adults will fall down that slippery slope of abuse and addiction. Before you can say, “Not my child,” you may find yourself saying, “It is my child — now what?”
We see the more visible signs of prescription drug abuse in the mainstream media — entertainment and sports celebrities who have died as the result of prescription drug abuse.
Out of the spotlight are the teens and young adults who abuse and may become addicted to these prescription drugs. We need to protect our teens and young people. You can be a part of the solution. Be aware, start by locking up your meds and properly disposing of them when they’re no longer needed.
Editor’s note: October is National Medicine Abuse Awareness Month. Prevent Together Prevention Alliance works with the Battle Ground Police department and several other partners to put on a Prescription Drug Take Back event two times per year. The next event will take place on October 27 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Battle Ground Police Department.
Kathy Deschner is the Coalition Coordinator for Prevent Together Prevention Alliance. She can be reached at 360-624-6816.
