Officials believe American college students are turning to pain-relief medications for more than merely backaches, and Buffalo is no exception to the trend.
Opiate-based prescription drug abuse is on the rise in America among 18 to 25-year-olds, said the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Though many see it as harmless, a penchant for abusing pain medication can often lead to hard-core drug addiction. And, the statistics show it is on the rise.
Among 18 to 25-year-olds, the number of heroin users jumped from 49,000 to 62,000 between 2000 and 2001. Reported "non-medical use of psychotheraputics" increased from 292,000 to 388,000 during the same interval, according to statistics from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
According to Thomas Diina, the Erie County Medical Center's coordinator of the Rehab Program for Chemical Dependency, there is a simple explanation for the spike.
"It feels good," he said.
The danger of addiction is masked by the commonplace appearance of a physician's prescription, Diina said.
"If it's a prescription it's seen as more benign, because it's not perceived as something that can lead to an addiction," he said. "[Students are] usually surprised that it can lead out of control."
Dan, a junior international business major who wished to have his last name withheld, has had experience with the UB prescription drug culture.
"It's not something people talk about," Dan said. "Not everyone brags about what they do."
Certain prescription medications are more popular than others among segments of the UB student body, he said.
"I hear about Oxy Contin, and always Ritalin," he said.
According to Dan, there are no major obstacles to acquiring prescription drugs.
"It's not too hard," he said. "You have to know people. It's bad, though. You never know if it's the real thing."
Dan, who has used cocaine on occasion in addition to the college mainstays marijuana and alcohol, does not believe that prescription drug users are aware of the danger of the drugs.
"They're just looking for a break from reality," Dan said. "It's the attitude of having fun all the time. They don't think about what it will do to their body. Once you get older, though, you think about preserving your brain."
According to Diina, out of control users find themselves going from doctor to doctor, complaining of ailments too minor to warrant an MRI, but worthy of a codeine or Vicodin prescription.
"Recreational drugs vary by region," said Dr. Richard Blondell, director of research on addictions at UB's Department of Family Medicine. "I'm finding that prescription opiates are popular in Buffalo, and that people start with combination drugs, opiates mixed with acetaminophen (Tylenol), like Vicodin, Lortab, or Percocet."
Such drugs can appear to relieve both emotional and physical pain, according to Monica Sandy, an administrative assistant for a methadone treatment facility in Buffalo.
"Opiates give a sense of euphoria, and it becomes psychologically addicting," said Sandy. "It's a big problem with heroin, which is actually physiologically addicting as well, making it harder to get off."
"Half to two-thirds of it is explained by genetics," Blondell said, pointing to addiction statistics as a satisfactory indicator of which individuals are most at risk to become dependent on a substance.
"About 12.5 percent of the general population are at risk genetically for addiction," Blondell said. "If the genetics are that there's a first degree relative with an addiction, like an aunt or uncle, it doubles the risk. If there's a parent it goes to 50 percent. If both parents are addicts, the risk is 90 percent."
"In a college setting," Blondell said, "you see college kids abusing Ritalin or Adderall, which are used to treat attention-deficit disorder." He said those abusers do not often go to a hospital for treatment.
"By the time we see them, they've graduated to methamphetamine or are smoking $200 worth of crack a day," Blondell said.
Diina said he thinks that while drug use has looser ties to socioeconomic status now than it had in the past, trends have become apparent.
"The suburban upper-middle class is gravitating toward the opiates as it is accessible for them, and crack cocaine is more predominant in the city," he said.
Diina described Buffalo as beset by an epidemic of crack cocaine. According to Diina, three of every four people in ECMC's inpatient rehab are being treated for crack and alcohol. Proportionally, the number of college students on crack is not as high because other drugs are more widely used.
"There is a cultural overlay," Blondell said, explaining why the suburban population and the college demographic gravitate toward drugs like powder cocaine, which is less potent yet more expensive.
"College kids feel if they snort cocaine, at least they're not a crack addict," said Blondell. "It's a way for them to deceive themselves." He said that since crack cocaine is often associated with lower classes, student users rationalize a powder cocaine habit.
"They do it for a variety of reasons," Blondell said. "Some do it to party, there are thrill seekers, risk takers, others want to fix something, they're stressed, they want an escape, and others are just anti-social or do it because it's bad."
Blondell said he sees denial as a hallmark of drug culture.
"A college kid will say, 'I'm 19 years old, I'm smart, I'm in college, I'm not going to end up like everyone else,'" Blondell said.
Blondell, Sandy and Diina all agree that education is the key to avoiding severe legal or health trouble.
"(Students) turn to drugs because they're disappointed with what society has to offer," said Sandy. "With greater education comes a greater sense of self-worth, and more opportunities for people."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
