EASY-TO-FIND PRESCRIPTION DRUGS FUELING INCREASE IN OPIATE ADDICTS

Heroin isn't the only opium- derived substance luring users.
Some of the most-abused drugs may be as close as the family medicine
cabinet.

Teens in New Hanover, Pender and Brunswick counties rank prescription
narcotics third among their drugs of choice, after alcohol and
marijuana, according to a recent study.

Many teenage clients report it's easy to get prescription pills at
school or from home, said John Dail, a Coastal Horizons Center
substance-abuse counselor who works with adolescents.

"There has been a rise in opiate use among kids in the last five
years," Dail said. "You can get just as addicted to prescription
narcotics as you can to heroin."

Guidance from family members and counseling at facilities like Coastal
Horizons can help teens at risk make positive decisions about their
lives, Dail said.

"Drugs don't discriminate against age, race or social class. Anybody
can become addicted," he said. "Normally, they will start out with
alcohol and go to marijuana. It can affect anybody, really. Sometimes
the parents just don't know."

"Wilmington, historically, has always had a huge heroin market, but
prescription opiate use has taken over statistically, although the
percentage of heroin users is still higher than other areas of the
state," said Kenny House, Coastal Horizons clinical director of
treatment services.

One Wilmington woman whose life unraveled after becoming addicted to
narcotic painkillers said it was easy to obtain medications like
Lorcet and Percocet.

"I knew how to work the system. I would go to a doctor and know
exactly what to say and get the pain pills, and there is always
somebody you can get them from," said "Lynn," whose name is being
withheld to protect her identity.

Lynn was addicted to painkillers for about seven years and has been
enrolled in the Coastal Horizons Center's methadone program for five
years.

Methadone is a synthetic opioid that blocks the effects of heroin and
other narcotics, eliminates withdrawal symptoms and relieves cravings.
Coastal Horizons Center's methadone program has 150 clients, many of
whom have never used heroin.

The program saved her life, Lynn said one recent morning at the clinic
off Shipyard Boulevard. "Heroin use was the next step, and I thank God
I got in here," she said.

Lynn, 50, had a history of marijuana and cocaine use when she began
obtaining prescription drugs to alleviate migraine headaches. By the
time she entered treatment at Coastal Horizons, she was facing a
three-year prison term for breaking into a home to steal some pills.

"I'm not a bad person. I'm a sick person. I wish more people were
educated in the methadone program," Lynn said. "In my addiction, I had
no idea how many people I affected besides myself."

According to a report released last month by an agency of the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, more people started using
narcotic pain relievers for non-medical reasons in 2004 than began use
of marijuana or cocaine.

A survey conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration found that 2.4 million people older than 12 started
using prescription drugs for non-medical reasons, compared with 2.1
million for marijuana and 1 million for cocaine. The study also found
that in 2004, an estimated 31.8 million Americans had used pain
relievers non-medically in their lifetimes, up from 29.6 million in
2002.

Those trends are borne out locally. More people are treated at New
Hanover Regional Medical Center for overdoses of prescription drugs
than heroin, said Michael Moulton, an emergency room physician at the
hospital.

"We are not unlike the rest of the country. We have a very large
percentage of people who are on prescription medications and abuse
them," he said.

Sometimes elderly people accidentally take more than their recommended
dosage and overdose. But many young adults also end up in the
emergency room, Moulton said.

About 80 percent of Coastal Horizons clients are white, and about 60
percent are female. An increasing number of people are seeking
treatment for the abuse of prescription drugs, said House, the Coastal
Horizons clinical treatment director.

"It's the fastest growing addiction problem in the country," he said.
"Generally, the population has gotten younger over the last 10 years,
and we have a larger female population."

The availability of narcotic painkillers can lead to use of other
drugs like heroin, House said. "Family members are prescribed
prescription painkillers. People start out with pain and they end up
with addiction," he said.

Lynn knows firsthand how easy it is to obtain prescription opioids and
was disturbed when her teenage son told her he had been offered drugs
like OxyContin at his local high school.

"It is very scary. We just lost a guy who died from an overdose of
heroin," she said. "I've seen so many young people come up here, 19 or
20 years old, and they're already on heroin. There is some bad stuff
out there, but they don't care. All they care about is getting a fix.
There is nothing worse than having to go through withdrawal."

House is an advocate of methadone therapy to treat narcotics
addiction. He acknowledges there is a negative perception of the drug.

"Methadone actually serves to normalize body or brain function," House
said. "If I'm on a stable dose, my life has the possibility and the
opportunity to return to normal."

The purpose of the treatment program "is not any different from a
corporate executive who goes to AA meetings," he said. "Recovery is a
daily activity for folks."

Lynn started a new job last month. She is optimistic about her future
and plans to continue on the methadone program.

"My life is wonderful," she said. "I have not even thought about
getting off it at this point. My life was such a mess that it took me
a long time to get on my feet and earn the trust of my family."