Ruth Ellis
Staff Writer
11/3/2009

Even though a doctor prescribes prescription medicine,  it does not mean the drugs are safe. Misuse of prescription drugs can mean death or even life-long consequences.  
In Lassen County word gets around that teenagers are participating in pharm parties — where a bunch of medication is dumped into a bowl and participants grab a handful to swallow.
Lassen County Alcohol and Drug Director Lyle Dornon said based on the department’s prevention efforts and talking with the youth in the community, pharm parties do happen here.
B.J. Goodridge, a local pharmacist and a member of the Narcotics Overdose Prevention and Education Taskforce, said from what he has been told and what he hears from teens, pharm parties absolutely do happen in Lassen County.
Since 2006, there have been three confirmed deaths among  teens and young adults related to Lassen County due to methadone.
Although death is a final result, Goodridge said there are other issues that can arise when people abuse prescription medications.
He said some medications cause seizures and if a person were to have a seizure while driving, he or she could end  up killing someone.     
Other medications will impair judgment and a person could have a heart attack if too many stimulants have been ingested. Some drugs can cause a stroke.
A person at a pharm party could slip a date rape drug into the bowl, which Goodridge said could put a female in a situation  that could result in life-altering consequences.
Commercials seen on television and in magazines advertise more and more gender-specific drugs. Goodridge said one of the drugs for men could cause sterility or severe birth defects if a child- bearing aged women comes into contact with it or even takes just one pill.
Vicodin, a pill used for pain management, has Tylenol in it and Goodridge said if a person took a whole bunch of pills, it could cause liver problems.
He said methadone abuse is still a bad problem and the drug is unique because it can cause a lot of cardiac side effects no one talks about.

Signs parents should look for
Goodridge provided signs parents should look for to help determine if their child might be having a reaction to prescription drugs.
He said if a teen is awake when they are supposed to be sleeping or sleeping when they should be awake, that could be  a side effect of a prescription drug.
If a teen comes home looking pale, clammy and has shallow breathing, parents need to call 911.
Opioids can depress breathing, but if a person has combined the drugs with medication such as Xanax, Avidan or alcohol, it can make the symptoms worse, Goodridge said.
Parents should also be watchful if their child is withdrawing from activities they normally enjoy, or if all at once the friends they hang out with have a sudden change in behavior, then Goodridge said parents need to start asking questions. The changes might not even be drug-related, but something is probably going on, he said.
He said if parents find prescription scripts or tablets that aren’t the norm, they need to start getting involved  even if it means calling the police.
Though there are signs parents can watch for, Goodridge said the worst thing is a child could die from just one misuse of a prescription drug.
“One time can kill you,” he said. “One time can be one time too many,”
For those parents, he said unfortunately there will have been no warning signs.
Goodridge and his wife worked as youth leaders while he was attending pharmacy school and he said parents can be the best  in the world — having a solid marriage, teaching their child to make good choices and instill morals in them, but teens can still make bad choices, he said.

Drug problem in Lassen County
Some people might say there isn’t a problem with prescription drug abuse among teens or adults  in Lassen County, but Goodridge said the more people say there isn’t a problem, the more people will continue to die.
The Lassen County Alcohol and Drug Department falls into a  minimum based allocation county. Not including Lassen County, the  percentage for treating opioid addiction in other MBA counties was  5.1 percent. In Lassen County, Dornon said first quarter reports show 6.9   percent were admitted for opioid treatment, which is significantly higher in MBA counties.
An opioid is any drug that attaches to the opioid receptor sites in the brain such as oxycodone, hydrocodone methadone and vicodin.
Opiates such as codeine, heroine and morphine are natural derivates from opium poppy plants.
According to Dornon the number one drug of choice in Lassen County is alcohol followed by marijuana and methamphetamine. However, he said the misuse of prescription drugs is still a significant  national problem.
Although he said the numbers weren’t 100 percent accurate,  Dornon said the number of prescription drug deaths among adults has increased in Lassen County.
He said he has records  of four adults dying in both 2005 and 2006. Eight adults died in 2007 and 11 adults died in 2008.
Dornon and Goodridge couldn’t pinpoint an exact reason as to why using prescription drugs for recreational purposes is a popular trend, but did provide some thoughts.  
Goodridge said teens could be thinking its safe because it’s a prescription medication. There might be side effects, but deep down the teens think nothing else will happen.
Dornon said in the late 90s the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations started requiring doctors in hospitals and medical clinics to rate the patient’s pain resulting in more pain medication being prescribed.  
Another possible factor Dornon said is the national attention given to an OxyContin addiction problem that broke out in Southwest Virginia and resulted in the deaths of  228 people.