UTAH FACES: A WARRIOR AGAINST DRUGS

Strike Force Agent Works To Reach Teenagers Before It's Too Late

OGDEN -- Nearly three years ago, a local teen clung to life.

Randy Lythgoe, an agent with the Weber-Morgan Narcotics Strike Force, had
been called to investigate the comatose teen's situation.

"When I walked into his room, I didn't have my badge on. I walked through a
crowd of teenagers standing vigil in the hallway," Lythgoe said.

"After a few minutes, the young man's father and I walked out of the room
and back through the crowd of teenagers. At that point, I had my badge
exposed. Half of those kids got up and left as soon as they figured out who
I was."

At that moment, Lythgoe realized he had a bigger problem on his hands than
he first thought.

"I knew we had a drug problem, and I knew it was a big one," he said. "I'm
not talking about illegal drugs -- I'm talking about prescription narcotic
drugs -- and we weren't paying attention.

"It came up and bit us. It bit us hard. No race, religion or class is spared."

Lythgoe decided to educate the community about the dangers of prescription
medications. Since walking out of that hospital room, he has given

presentations to students, parents, neighborhood watch groups, pharmacists,
law enforcement officials, doctors, clergy and church youth groups.

Education and communication are the only things that will stop the problem,
he said.

"I have seen kids from good homes, churchgoing families, well-to-do
families, get hooked on these drugs. I've even seen them overdose and die,"
Lythgoe said.

Pill parties, or pharming parties, are a big thing among teenagers, he said.

"They swap pills, buy pills, get high, mix them with alcohol," Lythgoe
said. "I dare venture to say that parents are probably not aware of what is
going on with their children and grandchildren when it comes to
prescription drug abuse.

"If you don't think your kids are onto this, then you are naA/ve."

Lythgoe, 51, was born and raised in Washington Terrace and attended Weber
State University. He began his career at the South Ogden Police Department.

Twenty-two years later, he retired, but returned just 15 months later as a
detective investigating white-collar crime. That was when the Ogden Police
Department asked him to help build a prescription fraud program.

Lythgoe said most people think that if a pill is obtained through a
prescription, it's safe.

"You couldn't be more wrong," he said. "When taken as prescribed, they
probably are safe, and for people in horrible pain, they are warranted, but
these kids are crushing them and snorting them, injecting them, chewing
them up.

"Legal prescription narcotic drugs are the No. 1 cause of overdose deaths
in Utah.

Blake Ballingham, the teenager in a coma three years ago, often accompanies
Lythgoe to his presentations. He said he started abusing Lortab, then
OxyContin, then methadone.

Now 20 and clean for two years, Ballingham said he finally got serious
about staying away from drugs after he overdosed.

"They are out there and they're easy to get. You'd be surprised," he said.
"It only takes once to get addicted."

Parents should safeguard their medications, Lythgoe said.

"Lock them up. Count the pills and know how many are in the bottle," he said.

"The outlook is that young people are going to continue to abuse these
drugs at younger ages and at a faster rate.

"That's not a pretty picture and we're not immune to it in good ol' Ogden,
Utah. We have got to get a handle on it."