I ran across this article written in 2005 (it won't link but its on NPR) and got infuriated - why can't more be done about this? But what? Sure, I partied in HS myself and used just about every drug you could think of. The difference back then was that we didn't have ADDICTIVE opiates, everyone KNEW heroin was for hard-core druggies not recreational drug users. There was nothing like Oxycontin or Vicodin back then.
But this generation has HARD CORE SERIOUSLY ADDICTIVE DRUGS readily available to them. I guess some of the executives of the company who make it have already been sued, back in 2007. But a lot of good its done - its still out there causing people to get unknowingly addicted.
It just makes me incensed! I can't link but here's a small part of the article:
Fast-Forming Addiction
Prescription drugs are the second-most used drugs among teens, behind marijuana. Teens are doing stimulants, barbiturates and painkillers. Many don't realize how highly addictive and dangerous some of these pills can be -- OxyContin in particular.
"I was sick as a dog and I was in bed and I couldn't believe it. I was actually scared," recalls 17-year-old Ryan, a high school senior from Tewksbury, Mass.
Ryan, who asked that NPR use only his first name, is enrolled at a drug-treatment clinic at Children's Hospital in Boston. He says he first tried OxyContin at a party when he was 16. Kids crush up the 12-hour time release pills and snort them, so they get hit with all the opiate at once. Ryan says pot made him feel "weirded out." OxyContin just made him feel good -- warm and relaxed. And it's easy to get.
"There's always someone who has it," he says. "There's kids selling it. I know alone, like, 10 kids selling it themselves."
But just a week after he started using OxyContin, Ryan realized that if he didn't get a pill every day or two, he'd start to feel sick. So he kept using it. He says he had no idea how bad he was hooked until the next time he tried to stop.
"It was like somebody was inside of your head with a hammer," Ryan recalls. "You feel like you're going to die. Just laying there in the bed, sweat pouring off of you... Then five minutes later, you're freezing… then you'd be throwing up."
THIS WAS FOUR YEARS AGO AND ITS GOTTEN SO MUCH WORSE!
2 comments:
I agree, it is disgusting that the medical profession and drug companies are now basically dealers to our nation. The laws were changed several years back. When I was younger, to obtain this class of drug (opiates) you had to either have cancer or have your wisdom teeth dug out, that was pretty much it. The laws were changed to state that anyone with a "chronic pain" condition can be prescribed these opiates. The criteria for a chronic pain condition is pretty broad! I think it is high time they change the laws back or at least have some regulations and guidelines placed on physicians so that only very SEVERE pain cases can obtain these medications, and the amounts they receive be highly monitored. Also they need to shut down the internet sites that sell this class of drugs. I am not sure how many more people will have to die in the public eye before they make these changes. I mean, come on, don't tell me they don't see how many of our youth are coming in with drug sickness, needing help getting off this crap. Sorry, just makes me so angry that nothing is being done about it, to my knowledge anyway, meanwhile our kids are struggling and dying. Ask me how I really feel...ha!
Mom, I agree with every word. Its just wrong. And what the bottom line always seems to be for these big companies is MONEY. I'd like to see how they'd feel if their kids start getting addicted to this crap and they can see first hand what it can do to a family.
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