Prescription pills latest teen trend

CNA photo by LARRY PETERSON Dark tale: Creston graduate Aaron Richardson speaks to parents and athletes about his past prescription drug abuse during Creston Parents Activities Night Thursday in the CHS auditorium. Richardson ended his substance abuse three years ago and now works as an internal medicine nurse in Creston.

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You can’t control everything in a teenager’s life. But, parents can influence them, and be responsible at home. Part of that responsibility, Aaron Richardson says, is to keep a current inventory of prescription drugs in the home, and have them safely secured. Richardson, a 1996 graduate of Creston High School, told Creston parents of students in activities Thursday night that prescription drug abuse is the primary substance abuse problem in America today. This epidemic is supplanting concerns about marijuana and methamphetamine. The trend escalated because of availability. The source of most drugs obtained by teens for abusive purposes in most cases is medicine cabinets in their own residence, or their friends’ homes. Todd Wolverton, Creston High School principal, echoed those concerns. “This is a problem in our community,” Wolverton said. “Last year we recognized a problem with a young person here, and basically saved his life from an overdose situation by getting him medical attention. Local law enforcement will tell you this is their number one concern.” Pain medicine Medicines prescribed for pain relief, such as Vicodin, are most commonly abused by young people, Richardson said. “There’s a reason why the prescription says take one or two,” Richardson said, “But kids are taking five or six. I heard of one party in the area where a kid was dared to take Methadone that was in the house. That is a powerful, dangerous drug if not taken correctly.” Richardson told parents how his own life was on track for high academic achievement after Creston High School, enrolled in Drake University with plans for a pharmacy career. Little did his family realize at the time how his escalating alcohol abuse would eventually lead to an entirely different pharmaceutical situation. “At my worst stage, I was using 30 to 40 pills a day,” Richardson related. “That was just to maintain my physical addiction. I was no longer getting high. My body depended on it just to function.” Richardson dropped out but later got trained in nursing at Southwestern Community College and Grand View College. Yet, he kept using. Users are manipulators, Richardson warned. They find ways to obtain drugs. He said he’d spend time at friends’ homes where he suspected family members had been prescribed narcotics. He masked symptoms of ailments that would lead to gaining prescriptions, seeing different physicians to avoid suspicion. “I had been trained as a nurse and I knew how to work the system,” Richardson said. The tailspin led to the loss of two jobs and the fracture of his marriage, Richardson said, as he became irresponsible and focused on one task: getting that day’s allotment of drugs. Intervention by his family in 2005, after Richardson had moved back to Creston from Colorado, led to a rehabilitation stint in Wisconsin. Thursday was the three-year anniversary of his last day as a user. Nursing career His marriage was restored, and in fact they are expecting their first child soon. He now works as a nurse for Morning Star Internal Medicine in the Medical Arts Plaza of Greater Regional Medical Center. He feels lucky. “I know the numbers,” Richardson said. “I know that 70 percent of those in treatment programs end up relapsing in the first year. I’ve been clean three years now, and we’ll have a son born next month. I truly have been blessed.” Without his family’s decision to intervene and take a tough stand, Richardson shudders to think how low he would have sunk. Suicidal thoughts are common among abusers, he noted. And that was the call he made to parents in Thursday’s audience. Pay attention, stay involved, and lock up those pills. —————— Larry Peterson can be reached at 782-2141, ext. 232 or lpeterson@crestonnews.com