Easy to organise, away from the probing eyes of narcotic sleuths, teenagers are getting ‘chemically’ high
It’s all about getting into the dangerous trap of various addiction once again for youngsters. Although popping in painkillers and gulping bottles of cough syrups were a thing of the past, teenagers are rediscovering its kick once again. Ever been to a “pharm party”? Welcome to the cheapest option of throwing a bash where the snack bowl includes a mix of prescription drugs from Alprazolam to Oxycontin to Viagra, and most of them come right from the household medicine cabinet. Fun, it may sound, but they can be fatal.
Poppin’ the pills: After raves, pharm parties are the latest rage among the youth. Easy to organise, away from the prowling narcotic sleuths, all one needs to throw a pharm party is a heady mix of powerful painkillers and high-dosage sleeping pills.
These pill-popping parties, which are part of a rapidly developing underground culture that surrounds the rising abuse of prescription drugs by youngsters, are more dangerous than any other drug abuse because the availability of these drugs is unfortunately not difficult, as most chemists do not even ask for a prescription.
Even the narcotics officials acknowledge that it is difficult to curb this menace.
Most drug prevention programmes focus on marijuana, opium, tobacco, alcohol and methamphetamine. Rohit, a regular pill user, says, “If you start with pills, it seems fairly legitimate. Kids have been lulled into believing that good medicine can be used recreationally.”
Pharm lingo: Bowls and baggies of random pills are called “trail mix” and on Internet chat sites collecting pills from the family medicine chest is called “pharming”. Young abusers of prescription drugs have also begun using the Internet to share “recipes” for a better high. And there seems to be no check on this either.
{{/usCountry}}Pharm lingo: Bowls and baggies of random pills are called “trail mix” and on Internet chat sites collecting pills from the family medicine chest is called “pharming”. Young abusers of prescription drugs have also begun using the Internet to share “recipes” for a better high. And there seems to be no check on this either.
{{/usCountry}}Soaring popularity: Prescription pills have become popular because they represent a more socially acceptable way of getting high than taking street drugs. “Teenagers are completely unaware of the consequences and even if they are, they don’t care about it. They don’t equate taking such pills with using drugs such as heroin or cocaine,” says Dr Aditya Baloria. For instance, a teenage pharmaceutical drug addict’s mother, says, “My son graduated from marijuana and occasional vodka shots to an anti-anxiety pill in such a big way that one day my husband had to pick him up when he fell asleep on a street corner waiting for some friends.”
So, just stay away from the kill pills. It is not worth the high.