Sunday, November 17, 2013

Prescription drug abuse takes center stage

By Ally Selva & Marybeth Calabrese
Bengal News West Reporters

           Most people don’t realize that the root of prescription drug abuse lies within their own medicine cabinets.
          The West Side Youth Development Coalition is raising awareness about this issue by holding community forums with speakers such as federal drug agents, healthcare professionals and public officials who aim to reduce the problem.
          Individuals who abuse prescription drugs truly believe they don’t have a problem because they were prescribed by a healthcare professional.  According to the Office of National Drug Control Policynearly one-third of people ages 12 and over used prescription drugs for the first time in 2009 and began using these prescription drugs non-medically. The most common misconception that people face is that the prescription drugs they are taking aren’t going to affect them in the long run because they are legal drugs.
          Jonathan Lindner, a health educator for the Center for Health and Social Research at SUNY Buffalo State, stated that the content of prescription drugs being released too soon is also becoming a major issue.
          “What happens with a lot of the different types of prescription drugs is you’re getting drugs such as synthetic heroin in certain pills. The content of the drugs and the time that elapses before the drugs have done clinical trials is shorter, and these drugs are being introduced too soon without knowing the side effects,” Lindner said.
          In 2009, Lindner and his team brought together a staff from Buffalo State and members of the surrounding community, to contribute to the West Side Youth Development Coalition (WSYDC). This organization intends to reduce violence, drugs and crime. In 2012, the coalition expanded its focus on reducing the use and abuse of legal drugs. Today the WSYDC has more than 170 participants including Buffalo State faculty/staff, law enforcement, Buffalo public schools, the court system, the Erie County Health Department and community-based organizations.
          Lack of monitoring the use of prescription drugs by healthcare professionals has become a major issue, as well as overprescribing. The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) does not strictly monitor exported supplies. Therefore, it’s easy for a patient to get these drugs, source said. 
          “The biggest issue is the ability to take medicine as prescribed. The West Side is a community with different language and cultural barriers that affect the ability to read,  review and deal with prescription drugs. People take expired medication, they take medication unintended, they read a label that says 'twice daily' and then take them both at the same time during the day,” Lindner said.
          The WSYDC also holds community forums to educate the public about addiction and how it can be reduced. In addition, the coalition provide information and sites for people who want to get treated or dispose of their old medications in a safe manner. On the West Side, there are prescription drug drop boxes   located at both Canisius College and Medaille College along with the Erie County Sheriff’s Office. The drugs are taken anonymously with no questions asked.
           Special Agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration, Joseph Bongiovanni, said how prescription drugs are a “hot topic” because the DEA recently dedicated a tackle of diversion group to monitor the use of prescription drugs in Western New York.
          “Prescription drug abuse has become such an issue that we now have a team of agents who are going undercover and dedicating their lives to solving this problem,” Bongiovanni said.
          What many people don’t realize about prescription drug abuse is that everybody is the source of the problem. Bongiovanni said  temptation begins within one's own medicine cabinet, where old prescription drugs are left for anyone in the household to access. Unlike hard drugs such as heroin and cocaine, prescription drugs are the easiest drugs for addicts to get because they are legal.
          “There is new fad of mixing heroin with the pharmaceutical cancer pain drug Fentanyl, that usually comes in patches. The DEA has recently found that many addicts in Western New York are using these patches to mix with heroin and have been rapidly dying from overdoses,” Bongiovanni said.
          Legislation in New York has been passed where it is mandatory that a 90-day supply of a script be regulated to only 30 days. After the month is up, patients must see their doctor for a check up to insure that they still need to take the prescription.
Bongiovanni and Lindner discuss the issue more here.