EDUCATOR: PRESCRIPTION MEDS KILLING MORE THAN ILLEGAL DRUGS

LIHU'E - Prescribed medications are killing more people than illegal
drugs, according to a Hawai'i-based drug educator.

Whether it's elderly people mistakenly taking more than the
prescribed dosages or addicts intentionally taking too many
pain-killers, the numbers of prescription-drug deaths are staggering,
said Gary Shimabukuro.

Shimabukuro, who has been lecturing about the dangers of drugs for 30
years, most of them as head of his company, Laulima Hawai'i, is back
on Kaua'i again this week speaking to school and community groups
across the island.

Some of his stops included the War Memorial Convention Hall and the
Waimea Canyon Middle School cafeteria, where he spoke to around 60
people between the two venues, telling tales of doctors offering
prescription medications for sex, illegal drugs and money.

"I got 'em all," he said, telling one story about organized-crime
figures offering one doctor $50,000 for prescriptions for
pain-killers, depressants and anti-depressants.

There is even the ongoing case of Dr. Harold C. Spear III, formerly
of Hanapepe, who is facing federal and state charges of allegedly
prescribing controlled substances (certain potentially habit-forming
drugs) to patients without actually conducting face-to-face examinations.

Last year, the state Legislature passed what Shimabukuro called the
"Spear bill," which makes it a felony to pre-sign prescription
paperwork for controlled substances or to write such prescriptions
without conducting face-to-face exams first.

Vicodin, which contains hydrocodone (an anti-cough and pain
medication) and acetaminophen (pain-killer), is the most abused
prescription medication in Hawai'i and the United States, he said.

To those to whom it is prescribed for pain, it provides relief. To
those not in pain, it produces euphoria, he said.

"Watch the Vicodin," Shimabukuro said, adding that it is a popular
drug of choice especially among high school girls, as it contains no
calories. One Vicodin and two beers are enough to heavily intoxicate
most people, he warned.

Ambien, a medication to help people sleep, is another prescription
drug which if mixed with alcohol or other drugs can be an abused drug
of choice, he said.

"They mix all drugs with alcohol."

Ambien is a date-rape drug of choice among perpetrators who favor it
because it makes victims pass out, he said.

Pain-killers, including pain-killing patches designed to be applied
directly to the skin, are among newer prescription medications that
are abused, he said.

The active ingredient in the patches is sometimes smoked or ingested
in teas, or pilfered patches are applied directly to the skin, in
dosages way beyond prescribed amounts, Shimabukuro said.

The anti-anxiety drug Xanax, Oxycontin (a pain-killer), methadone and
other prescribed medications are among abusers' drugs of choice as
well, he noted.

Only marijuana is abused more than prescription drugs, said
Shimabukuro, who recommends adults move such medications out of
medicine cabinets, which are located in the one place in the house
where total privacy is virtually guaranteed - the bathroom.

"Move the pills," he said, further suggesting adults crush and toss
in the garbage old pills.

He said he knows of a surefire way to "score" prescription drugs on
Kaua'i without a prescription, and without any money - by attending
open houses at for-sale properties and checking out the medicine cabinets.

Finally, he said addicts know where to go online to find good, real
prescription drugs.