Teen drug addiction is on the rise

February 16, 9:53 PMDallas Parenting ExaminerChristy Coffman

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It’s no secret there are drugs in almost every community. Teen fascination seems to have spiked locally with tempting peer pressure and experimentation.

Bob Hopkins’ son died a year ago from a drug overdose mixture in a Weatherford apartment complex. Hopkins is speaking out because he wants the public to know just how dangerous drugs are and hopefully deter anyone from irreparable results.

“Everyone thinks it won’t happen to them, just like a car wreck or cancer,” Hopkins said. “Until it does. I don’t want parents to think experimenting is something to take lightly.”

Hopkins’ son died from a mixture of drugs and purchased heroin prior to his death.

Weatherford-Parker County Special Crimes Unit Lt. Mike Camp said heroin is definitely a killer, but methamphetamine is the most addictive and most prevalent “hands down” in the county.

A Weatherford High School student reportedly overdosed Wednesday from a mixture of heroin and Xanax. He was said to be at Millwood Hospital, a drug treatment facility in the Metroplex.

Weatherford ISD officials referred to student privacy laws when asked about the student and incident.

“[The student] is technically not enrolled at WHS any longer,” said Weatherford ISD Public Information Officer and Director of Communications Derik Moore.

The 16-year-old is also said to be out of immediate danger, but not out of the woods.

That type of incident is exactly what Hopkins is trying to prevent.

Camp said at least 70 percent of crimes in the county are meth-related.

“Once they’re hooked, I’ve seen them have a $600-a-day habit,” Camp said. “They’ll steal thousands to sell it for less just to support their habit.”

Symptoms of meth use include twitching and fidgeting, always having to fiddle with things, lack of sleep and staying awake for days at a time, rotting teeth, loss of appetite and rapid weight loss. Teens and adults will lose interest in things that were once important to them like sports, activities, possessions, friends and family.

Camp said parents can find evidence in their teens’ rooms, lockers, backpacks and in trash cans such as glass pipes, straws, razor blazes and small baggies. He added users will seldom throw the bags away and accumulate them.

“They don’t associate with same friends and find new groups, and you’ll notice a drop in school grades,” Camp said.

Users are known to “crash” for days at a time after being awake for days on end.

Meth withdrawl symptoms include the appearance of sores, picking at their skin, very agitated, nervous, fits of anger, violence and have been known to “take off” and walk for miles and act crazy.

“They will do anything for it — steal, rob, prostitution — anything,” Camp said.

Symptoms of heroin users are typically just the opposite of meth or cocaine users. Camp said first-time users become violently ill with severe stomach cramping, vomiting, diarrhea and will curl up in fetal position for hours.

“Usually for some reason, as soon as the symptoms subside, the first words out of their mouths are ‘man that was good, I gotta have more,’” Camp said, adding they eventually become addicted and crave it.

Signs of heroin use are finding clear empty capsules, spoons, baggies, coke cans, drop in grades, and nodding off in a doze at any given time.

“They become so relaxed, they’re in la-la land,” he said. “The more they use, the more they can act semi-normal after months of use, then when it wears off, they withdrawl and go nuts.”

Heroin withdrawl symptoms include vomiting, severe stomach cramps and muscles aches.

“They can’t stand people to talk to them or to touch them, they have to get one more fix,” Camp said.

Additional signs of heroin use are syringes and needle caps, but another popular form is also in capsule form.

“If the parents pay attention, they’ll see blood on their shirt sleeves, spots of blood on sheets and pillows and changes in their behavior,” he said. “They’ll definitely notice track marks on their arms.”

Law enforcement officials said advanced users have been known to shoot it under their tongues, under their fingernails, between their toes, where it won’t be as noticeable.

SCU members are just recently discovering heroin users in the community. Camp said there are more than 20 current cases under investigation.

Pharmaceutical drugs are starting to catch up with meth in large numbers.

Investigators said they have built cases involving Xanax, an anti-depressant, Oxycontin and Hydrocodone, both pain killers. Hydrocodone is often used by meth addicts to stop the “tweaking” until they can get more.

“It’s not a replacement, but a substitute,” Camp said.

Unit members have also discovered hand-made Ecstasy in large amounts.

“We’ve had a lot of cases lately with big quantities,” he said. “We seized 4,000 tablets of ‘X’ last month in various drug busts throughout the county.”

The ages of users tend to vary from 15 to 60, and many users substitute it as a date rape drug or take it with alcohol not knowing what its effects will be.

Camp said sometimes Ecstasy can make you mellow, while other times it makes you extremely paranoid.

“The reason for that is it’s cut several times before it gets sold to the user,” he said, which can also be devastatingly harmful. “It can be easy to overdose because it’s not a controlled drug. The strength is undetermined along with side effects from one pill to the next — even from the same batch. You don’t know what it will do to you.”

He explained a manufacturer may make the drugs about 85 percent pure, while the product can go through the hands of multiple dealers before it hits the streets. Each dealer can “cut” the drugs, adding other unknown ingredients, making it more harmful each time.

According to streetdrugs.org, hundreds of pills are sold as Ecstasy, but cut with hundreds of various ingredients, including some that laboratories could not determine. The ones that were determined were listed as heroin, Ketamine, meth, caffeine, Ephedrine, and other drugs that were mixed. One pill could have MDMA (a compound from the Penethylamine family — a stimulant with hallucinogenic properties), meth, caffeine, heroin and E (also known as Ephedrine).

The pills are “stamped” with popular logos, animated characters, butterflies and smiley faces and name brands, making them attractive to young users.

Camp said heroin is not manufactured in the United States, but comes from Mexico or China.

Hopkins’ case was the first discovered in Weatherford. Black tar heroin, which is most popular, is typically made in Mexico, and China white, although rare, has also been seen distributed in the Metroplex, is made in China, but brought through Mexico as well.

Camp said in 30 years of law enforcement he is glad he has never seen heroin manufactured in the area.

He added the damages are devastating all the same. “[White China] is just like cocaine,” he said. “When it’s purchased, it’s not 100 percent pure — it’s more like 70 to 80 percent. They cut it with B-12 or lactose. When it’s been cut, it could kill them.”

Camp said he has seen four overdose cases of heroin in the last year within Parker County. Users range from 16-25.

Yet, he said the county’s biggest problem is meth with users as young as 12 and as old as 80.

“Meth is extremely addicting and is currently the most addictive drug on the market,” he said. “It’s worse than crack as far as addiction. It’s hard to say how many meth-related deaths there have been. The death could be caused from other means like gunshots, car wrecks and crimes.”

He added meth-related deaths in the county could be as high as 20 people within the last year.

“It’s definitely a harmful drug,” he said. “They go through extreme weight loss, rotten teeth, no sleep, respiratory problems, skin problems and it doesn’t take long. The before and after pictures are unbelievable in just six months. You can’t even recognize the person. Heroin’s side effects are laziness, even lethargic, you won’t work and dependency is really bad. Once you’re hooked and stop using it, your symptoms are worse than the flu. You roll up in ball and can’t move with severe cramps. The withdrawl symptoms are terrible — even death.”

Parker County Sheriff Larry Fowler said authorities immediately began working with local schools and parents when the drugs surfaced.

“The problem was on the way of being out of hand and we made the determination that we had no choice but to make a strong, strong enforcement,” Fowler said.

Weatherford Police and Parker County Sheriff’s Office work together in the SCU, making that impact on the drugs in the area.

“Our hearts go out to the families and children,” Fowler said. “Without that strong enforcement effort, it would be overwhelming.”

Fowler added the enforcement will continue with a determination to make a significant impact in the area.

“With the city and county working together on this issue, we’re attacking it at full force and intend to reduce the cases dramatically,” said Weatherford Police Lt. Chris Crawford.

Camp said the worst part of seeing drugs in his line of work is knowing and watching what it does to the ones who love the addicts and users.

“What it does to the families is tearing them apart,” Camp said.
 

by:  Danie M. Huffman
Source:  Weatherford Democrat