DRUG AND ALCOHOL ABUSE AMONG TEENS IN COLORADO

Colorado Teen Drug and Alcohol Abuse Facts

WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. -- Arrests for heroin at Cheyenne Mountain High School highlight a national trend happening among teens, drug experts said.

More and more teens are turning to heroin -- and not marijuana or cocaine -- as their drug of choice. The teens first get hooked by taking prescription drugs they are exchanging with friends and finding at their own homes.

The legal painkiller called Oxycontin is becoming the new teen gateway drug to heroin.

"I thought smoking a substance I didn't create myself was just a good way to get high", says Jaffar a 17-year-old former student at Cheyenne Mountain high school in Colorado Springs.

Taking prescription painkillers, such as Oxycontin, is just getting your body ready for opium.

"People don't realize how the drug is formulated. If you cut into Oxycontin, you crush it up, what you're left with is a phenomenally pure, phenomenally strong ... really a heroin that comes in a pill bottle," said Jeff Sweetin, special agent in charge of operations at the Drug Enforcement Agency in Denver.

Colorado Springs police have now made five arrests in the heroin case, which began in October. Some were students. The arrests were made very close to large mansions and the Broadmoor Hotel.

"Heroin is still readily available on the street in Denver, Colorado," Sweetin said.

It's a cycle that drug treatment professional specializing in addicted teen clients has seen repeated every eight to 10 years since the 1960s, with one big difference, it's stronger now than it was 30 years ago.

Jaffar is no different from the other half-dozen teenagers being treated for heroin addiction in the past four to five months.

Pharmacies are also seeing the effects.

The Wheat Ridge Professional Pharmacy has been broken into five times since April and has now cut back on the amount of Oxycontin they carry.

The DEA has added staffers for first time in years to attack the diversion of prescription drugs, like Oxycontin, onto the black market.

These are the telltale signs of heroin and prescription drug abuse and addiction parents can watch for:
• Tin foil crumpled up with burn marks, possibly in a car or bedroom
• Lighters
• Pens that have been hollowed out
• Weight loss. Heroin users tend to crave less nutritious foods like sweets and fast food
• Large amounts of money missing
• Prescription medications missing or greatly reduced

TOLL FREE TEEN DRUG REHAB HELP LINE IN COLORADO: 1-888-757-6237 or e-mail us.

If you have any questions, please know that we are here to provide you with support and guidance, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We welcome the opportunity to answer your questions free of charge about teen behavior, substance use, adolescent addiction, teen drug rehab, or other related matters. If you would prefer, please fill out our short form and one of our counselors will respond.

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