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Parents Need to Be Alert for Kids' "Pharm" Parties

By Lisa Crutchfield, Richmond Times Dispatch
Published: May 15, 2009

Rather than bringing snacks and sodas to some parties, teens are bringing whatever prescription pills they can glean from around the house.

They'll mix them in a bowl and then grab a handful of this "trail mix" without knowing what they're ingesting.

Pharming parties, as they are known, are gaining popularity, said Denise Miller of the Henrico Too Smart 2 Start Coalition.The trend was brought home earlier this week, when news reports focused on students at two Henrico middle schools sharing the prescription drug Adderall with friends.

Henrico's Too Smart Coalition held a Town Hall meeting last night at Hermitage High School to draw attention to what appears to be a growing national problem. The group's mission is to heighten youth and parental awareness of substance-abuse prevention and to reduce at-risk behaviors among Henrico County residents. Guest speaker Aleta Meyer of the Prevention Research Branch of the National Institute on Drug Abuse told the group:

Drug-induced deaths in the United States outnumber homicides or suicides.

Chances of injury or risky sexual behavior increase greatly with drug use.

More than 30 percent of pain prescriptions written after molar extraction -- typical for teens having wisdom teeth removed -- are refilled, necessary or not.

"People may think drugs are fun and easy, but they impact the ability to act on free will," she said.

Prescription and over-the-counter drug abuse is prevalent among young people, said James Carter, a student at Varina High School who works as a student ambassador for the coalition. "People think it's a joke," she said. "Or maybe they see everybody else doing it so they think they should do it."

Another student, Brendell Carter, who attends Virginia Randolph High School, said popping pills was something students could usually do without getting caught."You can't smoke weed at school, so they do that instead," she said. "I saw somebody do it before. They took like 17 Extra Strength Tylenol trying to feel good."

Most of the parents in the audience of about 70 seemed aware of the problem. They were looking for solutions. Meyer said certain measures can ensure children's safety. Some, such as eating dinner four times a week as a family, are simple and have been proven to reduce risky teen behavior.

She also offered other suggestions to parents, including talking and listening to children, being awake when they come in at night and disposing of or locking up medications.

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