Pharming

Blog Post #4 - October 19, 2009



One of the fastest growing trends among the teen drug culture is known as "pharming". Teens will hold Pharm parties where they each raid their home medicine cabinet and bring a variety of pills to share in a community bag or bowl. This collection of pills is known as "trail mix." The abuse of prescription drugs in the United States has seen rapid growth in the past decade among adults, but the severity of the problem among teens is different due to their personal sense of invincibility. The problem among adults is easier to write off because we believe they should be responsible for their own health and well-being. This issue will continue to grow as long as Americans continue their obsessive need to medicate for any ache, pain, or difficulty in their lives. The true issue lies in the fact that prescription drug abuse truly changes the face of drug addiction, the accessibility to the drugs, and how we attempt to take it on.



When one imagines a drug addict they would typically picture an individual who is strung out, unemployed, and having nothing going for them in life. Prescription drug abuse changes society's attitude toward those who abuse drugs because most people have been prescribed some sort of serious narcotic at some point in their lives, whether it painkillers, sleep-aids, or muscle relaxants. Teenagers are not immune to the need for prescriptions either. Vicodin for wisdom teeth or sports injuries and Ritalin or Adderall for Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) are as common today as taking Tylenol for a headache. Columbia University's National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse found that about 2.5 million teens took prescription drugs illegally in 2003, which was an increase of over 210% from 1992.



Accessibility is probably the greatest hurdle in the fight against prescription drug abuse. According to the National Center for Addiction and Substance Abuse, between 1992 and 2002 there was an increase of over 150% in prescriptions for controlled substances. Additionally, approximately 43% of these doctors who are writing these prescriptions are not asking patients about a history of prescription drug abuse, and 47% of them stated that their patients had pressured them into writing prescriptions. The American public, as well as doctors, have developed a casual attitude regarding the seriousness of prescription drugs, which results in these drugs falling into the hands of individuals who are not yet at an age to truly appreciate the weight of the issue.

It is more difficult to communicate the severity of prescription drug abuse to teens because they believe that these are medicines prescribed by respected physicians, rather than considering that these are actually serious narcotics prescribed to individuals other than themselves. Catherine Harnett, chief of demand reduction for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), stated, "If you start with pills, it seems fairly sanitary and legitimate. Kids have been lulled into believing that good medicine can be used recreationally." Internet pharmacies are yet another problem when trying to combat accessibility because teens are often more technologically savvy than their parents. Recently, the DEA has increased attention on black market pill mills and Internet sites that ship drugs without proper consultation.

According to a study by Columbia University's National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, "between 1992 and 2002, while the U.S. population grew 13 percent, the number of prescriptions filled for controlled drugs - those with an abuse risk, such as morphine - increased by 154 percent." Statistics like these represent how written prescriptions have completely gotten out of hand. The result of this is not only an increase in addiction, but the adoption of the attitude among young people that it is "normal" to constantly be under the influence of drugs. Adults are setting the example in the home that having a medicine cabinet stocked with Oxycontin, Vicodin, Adderall, or Ritalin that some sort of prescription drug is necessary to simply get through the day. Without adults (doctors, parents, teachers) taking the initiative to educate teens about the dangers and pitfalls of messing around with prescriptions, they are setting themselves up to see these teens end up as yet another statistic.