RX DRUG ADDICTION ON RISE LOCALLY

Cheap, available and addictive, prescription and over-the-counter
medications have fast become the drug of choice for many, local and
national health officials say.

"It's really taken off. It's a big problem," said Brock Alder,
director of the substance abuse division of the Bear River Health
Department.

The department treated 19 people for opiate addiction in 2002,
according to BRHD statistics. In 2006, that number jumped to 92.

Behind marijuana, prescription pills are the second-most abused drug
among teens, according to a White House analysis. In a report released
last week, the Office of the National Drug Control Policy said new
users of prescription drugs have caught up with new users of marijuana.

"Teens are turning away from street drugs and increasingly abusing
prescription drugs to get high," the office's director John Walters
said in a prepared statement.

While the drugs are popular among teens, Alder said the problem is
"across the board." Some use the drugs because they are accessible,
others get hooked almost on accident.

"We call them 'innocent addicts,'" he said. "They'll hurt their back,
go to the doc and get hooked."

Painkillers such as OxyContin, Loritab and Percocet, along with the
popular ADHD drug Adderall are the most commonly abused, according to
the health department.

The accessibility of the drugs also make them popular, Alder said.
Most of the time, he said, they come from the nearest medicine cabinet.

"The suppliers of these drugs might not be sinister characters on the
street corner," Walters said, "but are more likely close friends or
relatives."

Still, Alder said some addicts resort to "doctor shopping," a process
of filling prescriptions from multiple physicians, or even burglary
and robbery to get a fix. Logan's 1st District Court will hear at
least 13 cases of prescription fraud or possession in the next two
weeks.

Alder said users generally don't perceive prescription drugs to be as
harmful as others because of their medical nature. It's a mindset that
makes treatment that much more challenging.

"These people truly see themselves as different," he said. "Because of
that it really is hard to break the denial."

Even if counseling is successful, Alder said withdrawals from
prescription medications are some of the worst.

"It's the worst case of flu you've ever had, but it goes on for days,"
he said. "They're so scared of the withdrawals they keep using."

With parents, pharmacies and physicians becoming more aware of the
problem, Alder said the possibility remains for the trend to cool off.
Still, he said prescription drugs are en vogue and could overtake
methamphetamines and marijuana as the most abused drugs.