Spring Break
The new "street" drugs
Issue date: 3/7/08 Section: Forum
Did you know if you went to Fred Meyer today to buy cold medicine, you would be asked for your ID? No, it's true, you're not buying alcohol, but there is increased importance on the crackdown on young adults purchasing over the counter medication to get high. Of course, when you're face to face at the cashier they can usually judge your authenticity for buying cold medicine, but be ready to always get stopped by the U-Scan as if you had just swiped a bottle of wine.
Recently KPTV.com reported that there have been overdoses of Benadryl at Sweet Home high school, igniting the need once again to warn parents of this danger. Students were taking almost four times the amount of the allergy medicine to get high, and one student reported that she ended up in the emergency room twice for using it.
It's probably a toss up of students our age as to whether we experimented with this over-the-counter phenomenon or if we just stuck with the "typical" illegal fare for getting high. Maybe it's the stronger influence of mainstream media, or just the increasing creative nature of youngsters with everything at their fingertips that they decide to play around with what they can access easily.
Purchasing cold medicine wouldn't have been a hassle a few years back, and even more so, it's something almost every house would constantly keep stocked. That's why it's such a danger in young people who are living at home and have access to dig through their family medicine box. Sometimes, whether parents, relatives or roommates know it, some determined people know where to find prescribed medications and mix and match.
Our society has increasingly become a medicated one. Our bodies never seem to get the chance to run the course of any mild ailment - whether it's a normal head cold, a little lack of attention or a mild case of the blues. Medical reports are slowly coming out to say that antidepressants aren't really effective when it comes to mildly depressed patients. Young people would rather bypass behavioral talking therapy and go straight to the pill dispenser. And those doctors are readily dispensing medication without that much discussion.
Beyond the person even reaching out for medication, the easy access of pills at home in many forms is what is fueling this problem for many students. If this problem increases, parents will soon have to make all medication far out of reach, as if they were a drug store themselves. The logical solution, of course, is talking and teaching young people the dangers of abusing anything - but the volatile nature of youth means there may be no guarantees.
Editorials serve as a means for Barometer editors to offer commentary and opinions on issues both global and local, grand in scale or diminutive. The views expressed here are a reflection of the editorial board's majority.
Recently KPTV.com reported that there have been overdoses of Benadryl at Sweet Home high school, igniting the need once again to warn parents of this danger. Students were taking almost four times the amount of the allergy medicine to get high, and one student reported that she ended up in the emergency room twice for using it.
It's probably a toss up of students our age as to whether we experimented with this over-the-counter phenomenon or if we just stuck with the "typical" illegal fare for getting high. Maybe it's the stronger influence of mainstream media, or just the increasing creative nature of youngsters with everything at their fingertips that they decide to play around with what they can access easily.
Purchasing cold medicine wouldn't have been a hassle a few years back, and even more so, it's something almost every house would constantly keep stocked. That's why it's such a danger in young people who are living at home and have access to dig through their family medicine box. Sometimes, whether parents, relatives or roommates know it, some determined people know where to find prescribed medications and mix and match.
Our society has increasingly become a medicated one. Our bodies never seem to get the chance to run the course of any mild ailment - whether it's a normal head cold, a little lack of attention or a mild case of the blues. Medical reports are slowly coming out to say that antidepressants aren't really effective when it comes to mildly depressed patients. Young people would rather bypass behavioral talking therapy and go straight to the pill dispenser. And those doctors are readily dispensing medication without that much discussion.
Beyond the person even reaching out for medication, the easy access of pills at home in many forms is what is fueling this problem for many students. If this problem increases, parents will soon have to make all medication far out of reach, as if they were a drug store themselves. The logical solution, of course, is talking and teaching young people the dangers of abusing anything - but the volatile nature of youth means there may be no guarantees.
Editorials serve as a means for Barometer editors to offer commentary and opinions on issues both global and local, grand in scale or diminutive. The views expressed here are a reflection of the editorial board's majority.
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