Abuse of Prescription and OTC Drugs
#1 Drug Trend with Area Teens
Click button to become more aware of this trend effecting our children.
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New Studies On Teen Drug Use Show Cause for Concern for Parents
Prescription Medication Drop-Off 
Kids Escaping Drugs has partnered with various agencies the past few years to help get drugs out of circulation. Keep your kids and your community safe by safely disposing of old or unwanted prescription medications. Particularly dangerous to leave around the house are prescription pain medications which are fast becoming the drug of choice of many teens.
Eastern Hills Mall Pharmaceutical Drop-Off 2010
Sponsored by: Clarence Cares: Safe Homes, Safe Schools,
Safe Community; Chris Collins, Erie County Executive;
Erie County Health Department; Clarence Drug Court and
Kids Escaping Drugs.
Kenmore Mercy Pharmaceutical Drop-Off 2009
Kids Escaping Drugs partnered with Erie County, University of Buffalo School of Pharmacy, Kenmore Mercy, the Town of Tonawanda Police Department and Covanta Energy on September 19, 2009 at Kenmore Mercy Hospital for the first pharmaceutical drugs drop-off. Over 700 pounds of drugs and 15,000 doses of narcotics were collected over a four hour period.
Prescription Drug Usage
Please see following links for more information on commonly abused prescription drugs, the symptoms and effects. Reports indicate the abuse of prescription pain killers is on the rise, especially among 12th graders. What kids continue to tell us - and what other surveys have indicated is - they're easier to get than alcohol, they don't hold the same stigma as pot, and it's much harder to detect usage.
National Institute on Drug Abuse: Prescription Drug Abuse Chart
Topics in Brief: National Institute on Drug Abuse
National Institute on Drug Abuse: High School and Youth Trends
2009 Back to School Survey
Click here to view the report’s final executive summary in PDF format.
The annual 2008 “back to school” survey conducted by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University found for the first time ever that more teens find easier to buy prescription drugs than beer. A survey conducted by the Renaissance Campus had prescription drugs rank fourth on the list of substances abused by clients. Five years ago it didn’t even make the top ten list.
Our children are facing more challenges than ever before. And while nearly half point to drugs and alcohol as the main problems kids their age face; just about one quarter of the parents asked give the same response. What is clear today is that our kids are facing issues unheard of in the past, and for the most part, their parents have no idea of what is going on. Between cell phones, computers and commitments such as sports and club activities there is very little face to face communication going on between parents and adolescent children.
Research:
In 2007, KED conducted a telephone survey with 400 respondents to determine:
Perceptions regarding teenage drug and alcohol usage
Perceptions and attitudes regarding prevention efforts, particularly how they apply to the
effectiveness of educational institutions
Level of acceptability and circumstance of teenage alcohol use
Aided and unaided awareness levels of Kids Escaping Drugs and Renaissance Campus
Overall image perceptions of Kids Escaping Drugs and awareness of specific services offered
Whether people connect Kids Escaping Drugs and Renaissance House, and other perceived
connections or associations
The effect of possible stigmas upon perception and image
When asked to rate the level of the problem in their community, 52 percent felt it is a very large problem. The older the parents’ children are, the greater the perception. The highest average rating was among parents with children in the 17 to 18 age group. And of the 400 respondents, 89 percent do not feel that enough is being done to deal with this issue citing more parental involvement and education/prevention are needed.
| Slang Terms for Drugs Every Parent Should Know | |
| Marijuana | 420, joint, MJ, blunt (cigar filled with marijuana), bud, cheeba, weed, grass, doobee, dope, fatty, ganja, gorge, herb, hooch, Mary, Jane, killer bud, phillys, pot, reefer, swag, trees, zambi, green, bong toke, nail, roach |
| Cocaine | Blow, coke, rush, blast, booster, bump, c-game, candy, chalking, Charlie, cola, dust, kool-aid, flake, freeze, girl, her, ice, lady, snow, monster, nose candy, paradise, pearl, raw, Scotty, fuel, uptown, yeyo, zip, nummies, powder, sugar, nose candy, toot, sneeze, lines, base, rock (crack) |
| Ecstasy (hallucinogen) |
Adam, bean, candy flipping, care bears, Dex, E, E-bombs, E-tard, happy pill, hug drug, Jerry Garcias, love drug, playboys, rolling, smurfs, star, supermans, trippin, Tom and Jerrys, wafers, white diamonds, X, XTC, sweeties |
| Lysergic Acid Diethylamide hallucinogen) |
LSD, acid, blotter, beast, blue cheer, dot, Lucy in the sky with diamonds, blue heaven |
| Phencyclidine (hallucinogen) |
PCP, angel dust, boat, ozone, wack, super grass, killer joints, rocket fuel |
| Psilocybin (hallucinogen) |
Magic mushrooms, shrooms |
| Heroin | Al Capone, Aunt Hazel, big H, black pearl, boy, brown sugar, bundle, dope, dr. feel good, ferry dust, gato, george, smack, golden girl, H, hero, Jee Gee, jones, poppy, ramboo, skag, spider, lady white girl, horse, black tar, goods, junk, mud |
| Methamphetamine | Speed, meth, crystal, crank, tweak, go-fast, ice glass, uppers, black beauties, batu |
| Steroids | Arnolds, gym candy, juice, pumpers, stackers, weight trainers, rage, roids, sauce, slop |
| Ritalin | Hyper pill, study drug, vitamin R |
| Oxycotin | Cotton, oxys, hillbilly heroin, Ox, Os, OC’s, kicker |
| Painkillers (prescription) |
Oxies, OC, oxycotton, 80's, perc, vikes, vikings, tabs |
| Depressants (prescription) |
Bezos, xanies, xani-bars, xani-bombs, roofies |
| Stimulants (prescription) |
Ritz, rippers, dexies, bennies |
| Sudafed | Robo-tripping, Skittling |
| Morphine | Dreamer, hows, M.S., morf, Unkie |
| Rohypnol | Date rape drug, rophies, R2's, Mexican valium, rib, roach |
| Inhalants | Glue, whipped cream, kick, bang, sniff, huff, poppers, whippets, rush |
| Ketamine | K, special K, ket, vitamin K, kit kat |
| Alcohol | Juice, cold ones, brewskies, poison, booze, hooch, sauce |
| Tobacco | Cigarettes: smokes, cancer sticks, cigs, butts Smokeless tobacco: chew, snuff, dip, spit tobacco |
This information was obtained from:
National Families in Action, NFIA's Guide to Drugs and the Brain
www.nationalfamilies.org/brain
US Department of Health and Human Services,
Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration
SAMHSA's Tips for Teens Series
www.samhsa.gov
Gain insights and advice from parents who have been affected by today's drug trends.
Listen to some moving teen responses from the WJYE Radio-thon on August 11.
The audio clips are iTunes files. Click on the link below to download iTunes.
