Community Issue - Prescription Drug Abuswe

Somers High School Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) is having a talent Show at the end of the month. The show’s headline is, Talent – our Anti-Drug and it will feature talented students singing, playing instruments, dancing, twirling, telling jokes and rapping. Participants are active and talented kids we seer everyday around town. I know this because, through my involvement in Somers Comes Together, I was one of those who previewed the talent. Anyone who has a chance to go to the show should not miss it.

Somers Comes Together is the community group made up of school administrators, parents, interested townspeople and students, formed over fifteen years ago to help raise awareness in Somers that we have issues with alcohol and other substance abuse. I honestly do not know if Somers has a bigger or smaller problem than surrounding towns, and frankly, I do not think that matters. The abuse is real, and the abusers are the children of our community.

I have tried to be aware of substance abuse issues in our community over the years, and would like to think I do have some sense of what is going on. Even though we are no longer the community in all of America with the highest number per capita of alcohol related fatal car accidents, there is a great deal of alcohol and other substance abuse that exists just below the surface and just out of public view. Some families address these issues in an open and positive way, while others ignore what they suspect may be going on, and still others have no clue.

Since the fall I have become increasingly away and concerned about the wide spread abuse of prescription drugs among youth in our community. During conversations with teens in Somers I have learned that not only is it relatively easy to get these drugs, there is a thriving market for illegal prescription drugs in our midst. The teens are not involved in anything as huge as the drug heist recently in Enfield, but they are stealing two, three, or more pills from the medicine cabinet at home, at a grandparent’s home, or in the home where there are a guest or a babysitter. The kids are urged. By other kids, to look for leftover prescription drugs at home.

There are simple things we can do to help lesson the abuse of prescription drugs. Clean-out the medicine cabinet, your pocketbook, your bedside table, the cupboard – anywhere you keep prescriptions. Properly dispose of any leftover medicines you have, keeping in mind that flushing them down the toilet may not be the best solution. Be aware of how many pills are in your prescription bottles, and pay attention if your supply seems to run out too fast.

One of the things that really surprised me was the number of times the kids told me that a parent or other adult had given them a pill that had been prescribed for someone else, whether a pain killer, or allergy medication, or tranquilizer. Having prescriptions for a variety of maladies and conditions seems to be a way of life in our culture, and prescriptions are so commonplace that some forget that medication is prescribed not only based on symptoms, but also on age, height, weight, medical history and other factors. Not only is it foolish and illegal to give prescription medication to someone for whom it was not prescribed, it is also dangerous. Death can result from this kind of sharing.

Members of SADD are concerned about the welfare of their friends and classmates. They are aware of the speed with which prescription drug abuse has been accelerating in Somers. They look to the adults around them to step up and help address and overcome the problem, before abuse leads to a tragic end. I hope you will join me in supporting Somers Comes Together, SADD and other school and community efforts to bring alcohol and other substance abuse under control.