ALCOHOL-TYPE EFFECTS DRAW YOUNG TO DRUG

Expert: Xanax Use Rising Since Sept. 11

Cheap, readily accessible and effective at taking the edge off, the
prescription drug Xanax offers increasing allure to young people, addiction
experts say.

"It just kind of chills you out," said Sonya Bufe, adolescent treatment
coordinator for Drug Abuse Comprehensive Coordinating Office, a nonprofit
drug treatment center in Tampa.

Xanax ranks second behind Vicadin among the attempted prescription drug
frauds investigated by Detective Bernie McKenna of the Pinellas County
Sheriff's Office.

It comes in pills that vary in color according to dosage and can be used
for relaxation, to counter the effect of other drugs - especially
stimulants - or as a sleep aid, he said.

"Most of the time we don't know why kids take these things," McKenna said.

Prescribed to relieve panic attacks or anxiety, Xanax can be highly
addictive, and in many cases physicians dispense it too liberally, said
University of South Florida psychiatrist Martha Brown, an addiction
specialist. Patients, in turn, feel secure about the pill because the
doctor authorized its use.

The problem has increased since Sept. 11 as more people suffer from
anxiety, she said. For young people, however, its attraction can be more
practical.

"It's pill-form alcohol," Brown said. "Why do people drink? It's a social
lubricant. It takes away the anxiety."

Xanax is best used in short-term crises, she said, and not as routine
psychiatric maintenance.

Breaking the addiction can be more difficult than with alcohol. Symptoms
include nausea and vomiting, insomnia and convulsions.

Some young people start taking Xanax after finding it in their parents'
medicine cabinets, said Bufe. "A lot of kids will do the roller-coaster
thing," Bufe said. "They'll take something to bring them up and then take
something to bring them down before going home."

Information about Xanax and other addictive drugs is available by calling
the coordinating office at (813) 984-1818, a Hillsborough hot line at 211
or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services substance abuse hot
line at 1-800-662-4357. The National Institute on Drug Abuse also has
information at www.drugabuse.gov.