Experts say prescription pill abuse leads New Jersey teenagers to heroin addiction

Experts say prescription pill abuse leads N.J. teenagers to heroin addiction

Published: Wednesday, June 15, 2011, 11:25 AM Updated: Wednesday, June 15, 2011, 11:26 AM

By Megan DeMarco/Statehouse Bureau
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TRENTON — The use of prescription pills is becoming more prevalent among teenagers and is leading to heroin addiction, according to several experts currently testifying before the State Commission of Investigation.

The hearing is focusing on how teenagers gain access to prescription drugs, and how that addiction turns into a heroin addiction.

Prescription pills like Xanax are easily accessible to teenagers, and a "gateway drug" to heroin, law enforcement experts say.

Teenagers, more so in suburban areas, are getting pills from their parents' medicine cabinets, experts say. When pills become too expensive and provide an insufficient high, they turn to heroin.

Pills don't carry the same stigma as heroin, so it's not as big of a deal, experts say.

"Because the pills were manufactured for a legitimate medical purpose they don't have the same stigma," said Investigative Agent Rachel Denno.

According to the federal Center for Disease Control, 60 percent of prescription abuse users begin abusing pills before the age of 15.

The recent increase is occurring, in part, because of technological advances, Denno said. Drug dealers and users can use prepaid cell phones, internet sites and smart phone applications to get around law enforcement.

One confidential informant, via videotape, said his addiction began at 12-years-old. He started swallowing pills, which progressed to snorting, then injecting pills such as OxyContin and Xanax. When his body adjusted its tolerance level, and pills became too expensive, he turned to heroin.

"At that point it was desperation, it was complete desperation to the point where, wow I'm not getting high," said the informant, now 21 and clean for almost a year.

"When you start pills, you never touch heroin. That's disgusting, you know," the informant said. "It never crosses your mind until you get to that point."

The hearing, scheduled until 1 p.m., will also include two more confidential informants and several more law enforcement experts.

SCI commissioners hope the hearing and investigation will lead to legislative changes.

"To put it bluntly, today's young Percocet, Vicodin and OxyContin users are becoming tomorrow's heroin junkies," said Commission Chair Patrick Hobbs.

"This hearing is a major first step toward airing these difficult issues."

Who is Abusing Inhalants?

Who is Abusing Inhalants? By Cathy Brownfield When you think about inhalant abuse, who comes to mind? Is it the youth that snatches a butane lighter from the display at the convenience store or chooses the favorite chemical from the array of cleaning products found under the kitchen sink? Or the grown-up who sets the pace as the role model for others? Until now, preteens and teens were primary abusers of inhalants, usually males 13- to 15-years old, and on occasions such as rave parties and during sexual encounters may be used by those into their 20s, advises the American Council for Drug Education. Alcoholics may use inhalants to avoid withdrawal symptoms when they don't have access to alcohol. But a new report from SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) released last week says, "Inhalant abuse is now a multi-generational problemA new government study shows that 54 percent of treatment admissions related to inhalants abuse in 2008 involved adults. Of those adult treatment admissions: 52 percent, ages 18-29 32 percent, ages 30-44 16 percent, age 45 or older. An estimated 1.1 million adults over age 18 used inhalants in the past year, more than crack (988,000), LSD (637,000), heroin (571,000) and PCP (75,000). "Just because a product is legal doesn't mean it's safe," said Gil Kerlikowske, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). "Our homes are increasingly becoming the source of dangerous drugs of abuse for young people. Whether these products are inhalants found under our sinks and in our utility rooms, or dangerous prescription drugs stored in our medicine cabinets, parents need to act today to protect our young people by securing these products and discussing the harms they can cause." A 42-year-old mother of a 16-year-old daughter actually passed out while driving and using. The legal system ordered treatment or she'd still be using. "As much as I don't like dealing with probation and all the money I have to pay out," said Erin Davis, "getting caught probably saved my life. I know I wouldn't have stopped. I couldn't." Said Dr. David Shurtleff, acting deputy director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) which is part of the National Institutes of health, "Most inhalants produce a rapid high that resembles alcohol intoxication. Given the wide availability of these substances and the severe health consequences they can produce, inhalant abuse is a serious problem. Just a single session of repeated inhalations can cause permanent organ damage or death." Inhalants are breathable, chemical vapors that users intentionally inhale because of the chemical's mind-altering effects. The substances inhaled are common household products that contain volatile solvents, aerosols or gases. Street names include whippits, poppers and snappers. NIDA offers the following signs indicative of inhalant abuse: - Chemical odors on breath or clothing. -Paint or other stains on face, hands and clothes. -Hidden empty spray paint or solvent containers and chemical-soaked rags or clothing -Drunk or disoriented appearance -Slurred speech -Nausea or loss of appetite -Inattentiveness, lack of coordination, irritability and depression. To read more about the study, visit online at www.samhsa.gov/newsroom/

Cocaine and Crack Abuse

COCAINE AND CRACK ABUSE

Published by Medicine.net

Cocaine is a powerfully addictive stimulant drug. The powdered hydrochloride salt form of cocaine can be snorted or dissolved in water and injected. Crack is cocaine base that has not been neutralized by an acid to make the hydrochloride salt. This form of cocaine comes in a rock crystal that is heated to produce vapors, which are smoked. The term "crack" refers to the crackling sound produced by the rock as it is heated.

How is Cocaine Abused?

Three routes of administration are commonly used for cocaine: snorting, injecting, and smoking. Snorting is the process of inhaling cocaine powder through the nose, where it is absorbed into the bloodstream through the nasal tissues. Injecting is the use of a needle to release the drug directly into the bloodstream. Smoking involves inhaling cocaine vapor or smoke into the lungs, where absorption into the bloodstream is as rapid as by injection. All three methods of cocaine abuse can lead to addiction and other severe health problems, including increasing the risk of contracting HIV and infectious diseases.

The intensity and duration of cocaine's effects, which include increased energy, reduced fatigue, and mental alertness, depend on the route of drug administration. The faster cocaine is absorbed into the bloodstream and delivered to the brain, the more intense the high. Injecting or smoking cocaine produces a quicker, stronger high than snorting. On the other hand, faster absorption usually means shorter duration of action. The high from snorting cocaine may last 15 to 30 minutes, but the high from smoking may last only 5 to 10 minutes. In order to sustain the high, a cocaine abuser has to administer the drug again. For this reason, cocaine is sometimes abused in binges -- taken repeatedly within a relatively short period of time, at increasingly high doses.

How Does Cocaine Affect the Brain?

Cocaine is a strong central nervous system stimulant that increases levels of dopamine, a brain chemical associated with pleasure and movement, in the brain's reward circuit. Certain brain cells, or neurons, use dopamine to communicate. Normally, dopamine is released by a neuron in response to a pleasurable signal (e.g., the smell of good food), and then recycled back into the cell that released it, shutting off the signal between neurons. Cocaine acts by preventing the dopamine from being recycled, causing excessive amounts of dopamine to build up, amplifying the message, and ultimately disrupting normal communication. It is this excess of dopamine that is responsible for cocaine's euphoric effects. With repeated use, cocaine can cause long-term changes in the brain's reward system and in other brain systems as well, which may eventually lead to addiction. With repeated use, tolerance to the cocaine high also often develops. Many cocaine abusers report that they seek but fail to achieve as much pleasure as they did from their first exposure. Some users will increase their dose in an attempt to intensify and prolong the euphoria, but this can also increase the risk of adverse psychological or physiological effects.