METHADONE ON UPSWING AMONG TEENS

SWANNANOA - Their son paid the ultimate price for dabbling in drugs.

And now Karen and Robert Davis want to save other parents from similar
anguish. Their son, Zach, an 18-year-old Owen High School senior, died
Sunday, possibly from the effects of ingesting drugs, including methadone.

"Our son's gone, but we don't want to see any other parents go through what
we went through," said Robert Davis, a maintenance foreman at Montreat
Conference Center. "I would tell other parents, any change you see in your
child, you don't need to wait 'till tomorrow to do something about it."

While methadone has been used for decades as an important and affordable
tool in treating addiction, physicians are now seeing it out on the street -
prescribed for pain medication and then being abused or sold to people
searching for a different high.

Deaths caused by unintentional methadone overdoses in North Carolina
increased 729 percent during a four-year period - from seven in 1997 to 58
in 2001, according to the N.C. Injury and Violence Prevention Unit.

What is methadone? Methadone is a synthetic drug, belonging to a class of
drugs call opioids. The drug acts in the brain on pain, mood and other
emotions. It is used as a painkiller and as a substitute narcotic for heroin
addicts. Overmedication symptoms include: a.. Feeling drugged or unsteady
b.. Drowsiness c.. Difficulty breathing d.. Slowed heartbeat e.. Pinpoint
pupils Signs that your child may be using methadone: Euphoria, then
lethargy. Users are sometimes dizzy, not responsive to questions and may
have mood swings. Some narcotics addicts have a sensation of itchy skin.
What to do: If you suspect your child has a problem with drugs, get medical
attention, either through your family doctor or a psychiatrist, psychologist
or counselor. A professional will be able to conduct an assessment to
determine how severe the problem is what treatment is necessary. Don't: Yell
at your child or lose control of yourself. Stay calm and seek out help. If a
child is a serious user, it's important to remember that addiction is a
disease. To get ahead of the problem: a.. Talk to your kids and assure them
that they can talk to you about anything. b.. Observe their behavior and
appearance and look for significant changes. c.. Pay attention to where
they're going and who their friends are. Source: Addiction Treatment Forum;
Ben Bentley, adolescent substance abuse counselor

From 1997 to 2001, the United States saw a four-fold increase in methadone
bought by pharmacies and hospitals, according to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.

The upward swing most likely reflected an increased use of methadone for
pain management, doctors said.

"What my patients tell me is you can buy it on the street," said Beverly
Watkins, a registered nurse and co-director of the Mountain Area Recovery
Center, one of two methadone clinics in the area. "We've had clients come in
. who already test positive for the drug."

In general, drug use and abuse are more prevalent among the youth of Western
North Carolina than parents may want to believe.

"I think the majority of people in general are not aware of the level of
substance abuse in this community or among the teen population, or the adult
population for that matter," said Ben Bentley, an adolescent substance abuse
counselor with Copestone Psychiatric Services, part of Mission Hospitals in
Asheville.

Useful, but addictive

What exactly killed Zach Davis won't be known until toxicology reports from
an autopsy requested by the medical examiners come back, which could take
months.

Davis' best friend, who was with him the night he died, said Davis consumed
methadone. Robert Davis said his son was not prescribed methadone.

A synthetic opiate, methadone has been used for decades to treat people
addicted to heroin and other narcotics.

Through clinics regulated by the state, the federal Drug Enforcement
Administration and the Food and Drug Administration, clients come to a
clinic every day, or a couple times each week if they are following the
rules, to get their dosage of methadone.

"Methadone is not the answer to addiction," Watkins said. "It is only a tool
one uses while receiving treatment for addiction."

The drug works by occupying the brain receptors affected by heroin or other
opiates. It can block the euphoric and sedating effects of opiates, relieve
symptoms associated with withdrawal and ease the craving for opiates.

About 20 percent of the estimated 810,000 heroin addicts in the United
States receive methadone, according to the American Methadone Treatment
Association statistics from 1999.

Methadone can be deadly if the user has no tolerance for the drug, and if
mixed with alcohol or other drugs, it can be a toxic cocktail, Watkins said.

In addition to being used by clinics to help recovering addicts, methadone
is also used as a pain reliever. It can prevent pain for about 12 hours, but
the drug can linger in the body for many hours more, according to the CDC.

"You can definitely overdose, but (methadone has) its utility," said Dr.
Michael Beuhler, medical director of the N.C. Poison Center. "It's a tool .
but you put it in the wrong hands of somebody and someone is going to get
hurt."

Teens tempted by many drugs

It's no secret teenagers and young adults experiment with drugs, but parents
may be surprised at the extent of what's out there.

"At most of these parties they probably have pot, pills and drinking," said
Stephanie Mignone, a 17-year-old Roberson High School senior. "At New Year's
Eve parties or maybe on special occasions like graduation or the prom, you
do see cocaine."

Mignone says she maintains an open relationship with her parents and tells
them about what is available. She doesn't use drugs, and she knows how
dangerous they can be.

"People can hurt themselves with them," Mignone said. "I don't think they
realize the effects it can have until one of their friends dies."

Bentley, the substance abuse counselor, has been treating adolescents with
drug problems since 1986.

He says he's noticed an increase in methadone cases in the past couple of
years but says it's hard to exactly quantify usage.

Because it's available through methadone clinics and as a prescription
painkiller, access is not a problem for teens, either through people
misusing prescriptions or stealing the drug. And it's not just methadone on
the streets.

"Pretty much at this point in time, anything people want is available in
Asheville, whether it be Oxycontin, methadone, PCP, cocaine or (cold
medicine)," Bentley said.

Methadone is a central nervous system depressant, is highly addictive and
works over a long period of time. It's also very easy to overdose on,
Bentley said.

"The real danger comes when you start mixing all this stuff," Bentley said.
"If you mix (methadone) with other things that do what it does, it's pretty
easy to die from it."

And many people who abuse methadone, or use it "experimentally" tend to mix
it with other drugs, medical experts said.

"Almost always, with overdoes, it's a poly-drug overdose," said Dr. David
Poorbaugh, an emergency physician at Mission Hospitals, which does not keep
statistics on the type of drug overdoses seen. "And a good number of our
overdoes are diversions of prescription drugs. There are a lot of pain
medicines around, and there are a lot of people prescribing them."

Such heavy-duty drugs and the lack of maturity in judgment teenagers often
display can result in a deadly combination.

"Teens tend to think in general they can handle anything," Bentley said.
"When they're using, they feel like they're 10 feet tall and bullet proof."

Communicating with your children and letting them know they can talk about
anything is crucial in stemming their use of illegal drugs.

Bentley points out that most people who get involved with harder drugs such
as cocaine or opiates generally start out experimenting with alcohol,
tobacco and marijuana.

Robert Davis said he and his wife always tried to keep an open relationship
with their son.

Zach took the two prescription drugs, and he attended weekly counseling
related to a one-time incident with alcohol.

"Every time Zach came home we checked to see if he had been drinking,"
Robert Davis said.

Robert and Karen Davis urged other parent to be aware of all prescriptions
their children are taking.

Davis said he and his wife closely monitored Zach's behavior, his telephone
calls and whom he was hanging out with. He wants to make it clear his son
was not dealing drugs but rather made "one bad decision.

"The whole thing about Zach was denial," Robert Davis said. "It's what
teenagers will do."