PRESCRIPTION DRUG ABUSE DOUBLED IN U.S.

Local Drug Agents List Illicit Prescriptions Among Top Concerns

[INSET: Tips to prevent teen prescription abuse:

Talk to your children and let them know you oppose all illicit drug use

Keep an inventory of prescriptions and keep them where children can't
gain access

Monitor Internet Web sites visited in your home. Illicit drugs are
available on the Internet.

Watch for symptoms of abuse from dilated pupils to slurred speech

Source: National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign]

A Beaver Dam man will be arraigned in Winnebago County next month
accused of robbing an Oshkosh pharmacy for prescription drugs.

In February, two young men were found dead in their Main Street
apartment. Autopsies showed they overdosed on prescriptions.

Effects of illicit prescription use in the Oshkosh area have been
clear in recent months.

"As far as the propensity for social harm, it's our number one
threat," said Brad Dunlap, commander of the Lake Winnebago
Metropolitan Enforcement Group Drug Unit.

New statistics show our area is far from alone. And they show
teenagers are at the greatest risk.

A study released this month by the National Center on Addiction and
Substance Abuse reports that that prescription drug abuse in the
United States nearly doubled from 7.8 million to 15.1 million abusers
from 1992 to 2003. Among teens, abuse has tripled, the studies show.

In 2003, close to 10 percent of children ages 12 to 17 abused at
least one type of prescription, according to the study.

Michael Britz, a certified alcohol and drug counselor with Affinity
Health System, said parents aren't powerless.

Signs that a teen might be involved with drugs include withdrawal
from the family and dropping grades. Some teens who had previous
interest in school activities no longer participate because of drug
or alcohol use. Often, teen drug abuse accompanies a change in their
peer group. Parents should look at whether old friends no longer stop
by or if the teen hides new friends.

Teen abusers are often frequent liars, and parents should inquire
about activities days later to see if the stories still match, Britz said.

"They're going to become angry when you inquire about what they're
doing, because they know they're doing something wrong," Britz said.
"They were out with somebody they didn't want you to know about. They
said they were going to the movies with Sarah, when they were really
going to a party with Steve."

Experts agree that more prescription medications are on the streets.

Dunlap said illegal use of prescription drugs is much more difficult
to combat than any other type of illicit substance. The drugs -
unlike marijuana and cocaine - aren't inherently illegal, and it
takes substantially more investigation to get the evidence needed for
conviction.

Abuse of prescriptions also involves a different kind of offender,
and addictions begin differently than they do for other substances, he said.

"A lot of people who get addicted (to prescriptions) don't set out to
do that," Dunlap said. "They're not drug abusers in the classic
sense. They get the drugs for perfectly legitimate reasons."

But once they're addicted and prescriptions run out, crime can become
more prevalent.

Crime is only one example of the dangers seen locally.

Michael Grygera, 22, and Michael Guyette Jr., 23, were found dead in
their shared Oshkosh apartment Feb. 3. Both had lethal amounts of the
painkiller OxyContin in their systems. Overall, three deaths as
result of overdose are confirmed in Winnebago County this year,
Winnebago County Coroner Barry Busby said. Investigation continues in
a couple suspected cases.

Local struggles with prescription addiction have gone beyond health
and welfare.

Richard McArthur will be arraigned on Aug. 4 on an armed robbery
charge, stemming from the April 12 robbery of an Oshkosh Walgreens store.

John R. Cook of Oshkosh faces 22 counts of obtaining prescription
medication by fraud in six Wisconsin counties. A Winnebago County
criminal complaint states that Cook used stolen prescription forms to
receive various opiate drugs at a number of pharmacies.

A number of cases related to illegal prescriptions are circulating
through the local court system.

Similar stories can be found across the country.

Britz said any new trend in drug abuse would eventually reach
teenagers. Prescriptions were no different.

"It's going to drip down to the kids," Britz said. "Teens don't have
a drug of choice, and they're going to try things."