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Nov. 13, 2003
Students experiment with 'prescribed' highs
Where only first names appear, names have been changed to protect the identities of the sources.
After Mike, a senior, had his wisdom teeth pulled in mid-August, his dentist told him to dull the pain with Endocet, the same drug his father had been prescribed about a year earlier after shoulder surgery. In September, with the toothaches of August a fading memory and his father’s prescription on the verge of expiring, Mike snatched the Endocet from his parent’s medicine cabinet and gave it to a friend to sell, initiating a chain of prescription drug abuse.
Though general drug abuse is declining, prescription drug abuse, or the use of prescribed medications for recreational purposes, is an increasing problem in the U.S., according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). The NIDA estimates that two to four percent of the population abuse prescription drugs annually—about the same percent that use cocaine. In addition, according to the 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, prescription drug abuse among teens is particularly high—about eight percent of 12- to 17-year-olds reported using prescription drugs for non-medical purposes in the past year.
Prescription to addiction
Selling his Endocet was not Mike’s first illegal experience with prescription drugs. He was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in the third grade and prescribed Concerta, a generic form of Ritalin. Though Mike always uses Concerta during the school year and quits once June rolls around, stopping this summer sent him into a brief but intense period of withdrawal, during which he gained ten pounds, noticed twitching in his limbs and experienced a continual sense of warmness.
“I just thought, ‘If I wasn’t addicted then, I certainly am now,’" he says. Mike, his parents and his doctor decided to take him off Concerta until they could determine whether or not he still had ADHD and if the Concerta was still effective. But in September, Mike used his medication for a different purpose. During the second day of what he refers to as a weekend-long “drug binge," Mike took four pills of Concerta simply to get high.
Medical surveillance usually prevents abuse of prescription drugs, as doctors are trained to recognize warning signs, says Daniel Lieberman, the clinical director of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at George Washington University. “Patients come in early asking for more medication before they should run out," says Lieberman. “They give a lot of excuses, trying to get more drugs."
Abuse of Ritalin, which shares some ingredients with the street drug “speed," is extremely rare. Opiods are most often the prescription drug of choice for abusers. More people use opiate pain relievers, like Vicodin and Endocet, for nonmedical purposes than use stimulants, sedatives and tranquilizers combined, according to the 1999 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. Legally, these drugs are used to relieve extreme pain, as from surgery or cancer, but they are taken recreationally as a less potent form of heroin.
Wary of his addictive experience with pills, Mike does not plan to get high off of pain relievers. “I don’t mess with that," he says. But Mike couldn’t resist the opportunity this fall to make some cash off of the spare Endocet tablets lying around his house.
The not-so-black market
James, a senior, took 40 pills of Endocet off of Mike’s hands to sell for him. He quickly began making inquiries outside of school and at parties for interested buyers. “It was actually a much more hot commodity than I ever thought it would be," he reflects. Going at a rate of two pills for $5, James sold out within three days, but not before reserving five pills for himself.
Though James was no stranger to drugs when he took the Endocet, having used marijuana since ninth grade, prescription drugs often become a gateway for people into the world of drugs, says Lieberman. “They usually don’t want to get involved with the black market," he says. So teens will raid their parent’s medicine cabinets, like Mike, or buy pills from friends, like James. Later, they may grow “tolerant" of the prescription drug and require a more potent, nonmedical drug to get the same high.
James was aware that many of his customers were first-time buyers because they “didn’t know what they were talking about." While he had personally never delved into prescription drugs, he had quit marijuana several months ago and was feeling curious. “Maybe I was trying to get high off of something that wasn’t weed," he shrugs.
Those who sell or use prescription drugs are often unaware of the legal repercussions of their actions, says Lieberman. James was vague on the subject of the law and his dealings, saying, “I thought that since it was prescription, it was legal in a type of sense." However, Lieberman stresses that transactions involving prescription drugs outside of the doctor’s office are just as illegal as selling cocaine on the street.
James, however, is unrepentant. “Do I think it’s wrong? Yes," he says. “Do I care? No."
“It was a cheap high"
Dave, a senior, was the last link in the chain: He bought $5 worth of Mike’s pills from James. But James’ commodity was not Dave’s first experience with prescription drugs; Dave found the Endocet he bought off of James weaker than the Vicodin he had tried several months before.
Running low on money over the summer, Dave didn’t have enough to purchase marijuana, which he smokes about five times a week. A friend had some Vicodin left over from a leg injury and gave it to him for free. “It looked like a good deal," Dave said. “It was an easy high. It was a cheap high." Normally, according to Dave, Vicodin can sell illicitly for $20 to $50 per pill.
Dave used Vicodin twice last summer, in some ways preferring its continued high to the more ephemeral effects of marijuana. “When you’re on Vicodin, you just keep going up," he explains. But that superior high comes at a matching price, one that Dave and many other prescription drug abusers are ignorant of.
Brought down by the drugs
There is a misconception of safety about prescription drugs that leads potential abusers to underestimate their risk, says Lieberman. “They feel that if doctors are prescribing this, then it can’t be all that harmful. What they don’t understand is that it depends on the reason it’s taken," he explains.
Contrary to common belief, prescription drugs can cause serious physical or psychological damage if taken improperly. Stimulants, like Ritalin, can cause aggression or paranoia, according to the NIDA, as well as fatal seizures. As for opiods like Vicodin and Endocet, high tolerance is more easily developed, leading to severe withdrawal symptoms such as insomnia, diarrhea and vomiting. Large doses of either type of drug can be fatal.
Now that he has enough cash to purchase marijuana, Dave has no plans to abuse prescription drugs in the near future. “I don’t think popping pills is my thing," he says. “It feels like I’m messing with something that I shouldn’t be."
Yet he isn’t worried about the possible serious effects on his health from marijuana or painkillers, should he ever need a cheap boost again. “I mean, you’re only a kid once, you know?" he says. “You might as well live it up."
After Mike, a senior, had his wisdom teeth pulled in mid-August, his dentist told him to dull the pain with Endocet, the same drug his father had been prescribed about a year earlier after shoulder surgery. In September, with the toothaches of August a fading memory and his father’s prescription on the verge of expiring, Mike snatched the Endocet from his parent’s medicine cabinet and gave it to a friend to sell, initiating a chain of prescription drug abuse.
Photo illustration by Maya Kosok
Though general drug abuse is declining, prescription drug abuse, or the use of prescribed medications for recreational purposes, is an increasing problem in the U.S., according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). The NIDA estimates that two to four percent of the population abuse prescription drugs annually—about the same percent that use cocaine. In addition, according to the 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, prescription drug abuse among teens is particularly high—about eight percent of 12- to 17-year-olds reported using prescription drugs for non-medical purposes in the past year.
Prescription to addiction
Selling his Endocet was not Mike’s first illegal experience with prescription drugs. He was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in the third grade and prescribed Concerta, a generic form of Ritalin. Though Mike always uses Concerta during the school year and quits once June rolls around, stopping this summer sent him into a brief but intense period of withdrawal, during which he gained ten pounds, noticed twitching in his limbs and experienced a continual sense of warmness.
“I just thought, ‘If I wasn’t addicted then, I certainly am now,’" he says. Mike, his parents and his doctor decided to take him off Concerta until they could determine whether or not he still had ADHD and if the Concerta was still effective. But in September, Mike used his medication for a different purpose. During the second day of what he refers to as a weekend-long “drug binge," Mike took four pills of Concerta simply to get high.
Medical surveillance usually prevents abuse of prescription drugs, as doctors are trained to recognize warning signs, says Daniel Lieberman, the clinical director of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at George Washington University. “Patients come in early asking for more medication before they should run out," says Lieberman. “They give a lot of excuses, trying to get more drugs."
Abuse of Ritalin, which shares some ingredients with the street drug “speed," is extremely rare. Opiods are most often the prescription drug of choice for abusers. More people use opiate pain relievers, like Vicodin and Endocet, for nonmedical purposes than use stimulants, sedatives and tranquilizers combined, according to the 1999 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. Legally, these drugs are used to relieve extreme pain, as from surgery or cancer, but they are taken recreationally as a less potent form of heroin.
Wary of his addictive experience with pills, Mike does not plan to get high off of pain relievers. “I don’t mess with that," he says. But Mike couldn’t resist the opportunity this fall to make some cash off of the spare Endocet tablets lying around his house.
The not-so-black market
James, a senior, took 40 pills of Endocet off of Mike’s hands to sell for him. He quickly began making inquiries outside of school and at parties for interested buyers. “It was actually a much more hot commodity than I ever thought it would be," he reflects. Going at a rate of two pills for $5, James sold out within three days, but not before reserving five pills for himself.
Though James was no stranger to drugs when he took the Endocet, having used marijuana since ninth grade, prescription drugs often become a gateway for people into the world of drugs, says Lieberman. “They usually don’t want to get involved with the black market," he says. So teens will raid their parent’s medicine cabinets, like Mike, or buy pills from friends, like James. Later, they may grow “tolerant" of the prescription drug and require a more potent, nonmedical drug to get the same high.
James was aware that many of his customers were first-time buyers because they “didn’t know what they were talking about." While he had personally never delved into prescription drugs, he had quit marijuana several months ago and was feeling curious. “Maybe I was trying to get high off of something that wasn’t weed," he shrugs.
Those who sell or use prescription drugs are often unaware of the legal repercussions of their actions, says Lieberman. James was vague on the subject of the law and his dealings, saying, “I thought that since it was prescription, it was legal in a type of sense." However, Lieberman stresses that transactions involving prescription drugs outside of the doctor’s office are just as illegal as selling cocaine on the street.
James, however, is unrepentant. “Do I think it’s wrong? Yes," he says. “Do I care? No."
“It was a cheap high"
Dave, a senior, was the last link in the chain: He bought $5 worth of Mike’s pills from James. But James’ commodity was not Dave’s first experience with prescription drugs; Dave found the Endocet he bought off of James weaker than the Vicodin he had tried several months before.
Running low on money over the summer, Dave didn’t have enough to purchase marijuana, which he smokes about five times a week. A friend had some Vicodin left over from a leg injury and gave it to him for free. “It looked like a good deal," Dave said. “It was an easy high. It was a cheap high." Normally, according to Dave, Vicodin can sell illicitly for $20 to $50 per pill.
Dave used Vicodin twice last summer, in some ways preferring its continued high to the more ephemeral effects of marijuana. “When you’re on Vicodin, you just keep going up," he explains. But that superior high comes at a matching price, one that Dave and many other prescription drug abusers are ignorant of.
Brought down by the drugs
There is a misconception of safety about prescription drugs that leads potential abusers to underestimate their risk, says Lieberman. “They feel that if doctors are prescribing this, then it can’t be all that harmful. What they don’t understand is that it depends on the reason it’s taken," he explains.
Contrary to common belief, prescription drugs can cause serious physical or psychological damage if taken improperly. Stimulants, like Ritalin, can cause aggression or paranoia, according to the NIDA, as well as fatal seizures. As for opiods like Vicodin and Endocet, high tolerance is more easily developed, leading to severe withdrawal symptoms such as insomnia, diarrhea and vomiting. Large doses of either type of drug can be fatal.
Now that he has enough cash to purchase marijuana, Dave has no plans to abuse prescription drugs in the near future. “I don’t think popping pills is my thing," he says. “It feels like I’m messing with something that I shouldn’t be."
Yet he isn’t worried about the possible serious effects on his health from marijuana or painkillers, should he ever need a cheap boost again. “I mean, you’re only a kid once, you know?" he says. “You might as well live it up."
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