Troubled Teens Resources

Laura a new RN, fresh out of college, went into complete shock when she first entered the field, working at a regular clinic with numerous doctors. It was unbelievable as to the number of patients seeking prescription narcotics. It was literally every other patient.  Some patients had a very good reason for it, but the majority of patients were simply addicted (or selling them) and willing to do just about anything to get the prescription.

She admitted she also had no idea how many “twins” existed in the world. Often times when she had to tell a patient we couldn’t fill their prescription because records show that another doctor in the state filled the 30 day supply just two days ago, their response would be, “It was my twin. They stole my identity.” Some would even claim that their pain pills were stolen. Both scenarios really do legitimately happen, but when the same people are continuously coming up with some kind of drama, reason or excuse, then that’s usually a sign there’s a problem. What some people don’t realize is that doctors and pharmacies report each and every narcotic prescription to the state. Doctors have access to this report and can pull it at any time.

Troubled teens weren’t the problem in this case. It was actually grown ups usually between the ages of 20-45.

The problem progressively got so bad, that this particular clinic completely stopped prescribing narcotic prescriptions. They even stopped carrying the injections for migraines. Instead, the clinic started giving out information of pain management clinics, etc. The strongest painkiller they would give was Tylenol 3. 

The fight against teen age drug abuse, specifically against prescription drug abuse, is a bit harder for parents and law enforcement in the state of Florida. Both abusers and dealers have been flooding into the state because it’s one of several states in the country that does not keep a central data base of prescriptions filled.

Recent reports have indicated that illegally obtained prescription pills now out paces illegal drug abuse as the reigning threat our teens at risk face nationwide.

“Drug abusers and drug dealers have discovered a soft spot in the nation’s prescription drug system — the Sunshine State — and they’re exploiting this weakness with increasing regularity.

The number of prescriptions written in Florida for morphine, codeine, meperidine, oxycodone and hydrocodone rose 142 percent between 1997 and 2005…Between 2000 and 2006, an average of 341 people died in the state each year by overdosing on Oxycontin and Percocet.

There’s a reason Florida has become so popular with the prescription drug crowd — and it’s not the sunshine.

The state lacks a central database that would enable authorities to monitor excessive — and suspicious — purchases of prescription drugs, and investigate abuses.
[…]
Drug addicts and dealers often will choose the path of least resistance. When one state cracks now on some aspect of the drug trade, the purveyors of illegal products inevitably seek out new territories.”

(source)