For Tech-Savvy Teens, Internet Offers Easy Access to Drugs
By Hugh C. McBride
Parents who think that playing violent video games is the most dangerous thing their children are doing online may be in for a shock. For many teenagers, Internet access means entrée into a world where recreational drugs are just a mouse-click away.
Since the mid-1990s, several studies have documented a steady decline in the use of alcohol and illegal drugs by American teenagers. But any relief that is prompted by this trend should be tempered by disturbing reports related to the abuse of over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription drugs by U.S. youth.
The Partnership for a Drug Free America (PDFA) has called the abuse of prescription and OTC medication an "entrenched behavior" among American teens. And the ease with which these drugs can be purchased over the Internet has fueled considerable concern that more members of today's tech-savvy younger generation will be risking their lives in the pursuit of what some mistakenly believe to be a "safe" high.
According to the PDFA's 2005 Partnership Attitude Tracking study, American adolescents are becoming increasingly familiar with the illicit use of controlled medications:
- Nearly 19 percent of American teenagers have engaged in the recreational use of prescription drugs (pain relievers such as Vicodin and OxyContin or stimulants such as Ritalin and Adderall) in an attempt to get high.
- Ten percent of teens surveyed said they have abused cough medicine to get high.
- Teens are abusing prescription and OTC medications at a rate that is equal to or greater than their use of Ecstasy, cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin.
Easy Access, Little Oversight
With more than 15 years of experience in the drug prevention field, Linda Surks is an expert in recognizing the signs and symptoms of substance abuse. But Surks had no idea that her 19-year-old son, Jason, had developed an addiction to prescription pills he had purchased online - a fact she did not discover until a terrible night in 2003 when an emergency room physician told her that her son had died of an overdose of Xanax, OxyContin, and Vicodin.
Jason, a pre-pharmacy student at Rutgers University, had been purchasing prescription pills online (without the approval or supervision of a physician) for about six months before he died, his parents would later discover.
"I know he believed he was being safe," Linda Surks wrote in an essay on the PDFA website. "As a pre-pharmacy major, maybe he felt he knew more about these substances than he actually did, and had a 'professional curiosity' about them. We also learned that he had visited several online pharmacies and ordered drugs from one Mexican pharmacy online. We found indications that this pharmacy automatically renewed his order each month."
It is this combination of perceived safety and easy access that has experts most concerned about the online sale of prescription and OTC medications to teenagers.
"There's no fear of prescription drugs," said Steve Liga, the executive director of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, during a March 15, 2006 segment on ABC's "Nightline" news program.
"What we used to see before the Internet was that prescription drugs were a later-stage addiction," Liga said, adding that, in the past, individuals who abused prescription pills were be "hardcore addicts" who had stolen the drugs from doctors or pharmacies. "What's happening now with the Internet is that it's almost flipped. We have people who never dreamed of using heroin or cocaine, but they have no problem taking an Adderall."
Bill Manville, an author and addiction expert, expressed similar concerns in a July 11, 2008 column in the New York Daily News. "No more having to drive to frightening parts of town to score some dope," Manville wrote. "Now [teenagers] just jump online with an anonymous debit card bought for cash and order off the Internet menu.
What's A Parent To Do?
Preventing teenagers from engaging in destructive behaviors is a challenge that parents have been facing for generations. As with many aspects of raising children in today's networked world, achieving this objective demands both "old school" parenting skills and an up-to-date understanding of the technologies teens are using today.
The following are five tips to help parents limit the likelihood that their teen will become another statistic in the struggle against prescription drug abuse:
1. Talk to your teen - One of the oldest and simplest pieces of advice is as applicable today as it was a century or more ago. Keeping the lines of communication open between you and your teen is one of the best ways to ensure that you will remain an integral part of his life. Talking to your teen on a regular basis will allow you to monitor his behavior, gain insights into the challenges he is facing, and offer input and advice before problems occur.
2. Know the signs and symptoms - As the case of Linda and Jason Surks shows, awareness is no guarantee when it comes to teenagers and drugs. But recognizing the signs and symptoms of drug abuse has allowed thousands of parents to intervene in their children's lives before they experienced a tragedy similar to the one that befell the Surkeses. The Adolescent Substance Abuse Knowledge Base is one of several websites that offer a wealth of information to help parents identify illicit drug use before it's too late.
3. Monitor your teen's computer use - Scott Burns, deputy director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, told USA Today reporter Donna Leinwand that he and his teenage daughter had "a blistering fight" when Burns mandated that his daughter's computer be moved into the family room, where her online activities could be more easily observed.
Limiting your teen's computer use - and monitoring what she does while she's online - won't be the easiest things you've ever done, but they might be the smartest.
"As a parent, it's hard to keep up with your teens and their technologies," Burns said in an article that appeared in the paper's June 19, 2007 edition. "If you're not tech savvy, if you don't have Internet skills, you need to learn them."
4. Check out your child's MySpace page - In the same article in which Scott Burns discussed his parenting strategies, a 19-year-old former drug abuser talked about the startling frankness with which many teens acknowledge their substance use while online.
"Kids are really open about [their drug use]," said Ashley Duffy. "I see posts from other people describing a night on acid or whatever. I think they think their parents are clueless. And I guess they are."
Visiting the social networking sites that your teen frequents may give you invaluable insights into his behavior.
5. Stay alert and informed - Adolescent behavior is notoriously fickle, and individuals who are engaged in illicit activities are always working to keep one step ahead of detection - thus, determining whether or not your teenager is participating in a dangerous trend can be doubly difficult. Your child's school, local law enforcement, and (of course) the Internet are excellent resources for educating yourself about emerging areas of concern.
In the aftermath of her son's death, Linda Surks founded Families Changing America, an organization of parents who have lost children to drug and alcohol abuse. In the "About Us" section of the FCA website, a belief in education is described as the key component of the organization's efforts to help other families avoid the tragedies that the FCA members have endured:
"We believe that had we been armed with certain, specific information about substance abuse, prevention, intervention, and treatment, that we would have had a much better chance to save the lives of our lost loved ones," the website reads.
"'If we only knew then what we know now' is a common sentiment among all of us."
Although as parents we'd love to think that campaigns telling kids to "just say no" to drugs are enough to keep them from making bad decisions, issues such as low self-esteem, peer pressure, and parent/teen conflicts often overshadow even the best decision-making skills.
Young people are abusing prescription drugs in rapidly increasing numbers. Without concern for safety or side effects, children as young as twelve are habitually taking opiates, central nervous system (CNS) depressants, and stimulants, to get high and self-medicate. As many as one in five teens report taking prescription medication for non-medical purposes. Do you know where your pills are?
Since 1991, NorthStar's mission has been to facilitate recovery from substance abuse/dependence and self-defeating behaviors so that young adults can achieve their educational and life goals. NorthStar's experienced staff knows that young adults usually overestimate their ability to reintegrate into the community after an effective primary or wilderness intervention. At NorthStar, they emphasize teaching skills to manage recovery and independent living and gradually introduce the student to the freedom they desire and help them learn from the challenges this presents. NorthStar offers a strong aftercare component to assist young adults to continue on the path of recovery. At NorthStar, young adults who have completed a primary treatment program can work on deepening their understanding of sobriety while learning and practicing the skills to live an independent, sober, healthy and successful life.
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