RX- Tracy Lynn

If you watch any TV at all, then you know that we are all dying of some illness or have some awful condition that can only be solved by our friends the pharmaceutical company.  Don’t get me wrong, Rx drugs have saved many a life and they can do amazing things.  Like grow longer and thicker eyelashes… because how could we survive without that?  However, as is becoming more common place everyday, RX drugs are being abused, especially among teens that both want a readily available high, as well as a “boost” in academic performance.

Rx drugs are 2nd in drug-of-choice behind marijuana among teens.  Most new Rx users are 13.   Perhaps the fact that is most surprising for parents is that kids are getting these drugs right out of the medicine cabinet.  Parents, what is in your cabinet right now?  Vicodin from that knee surgery a year ago?  Xanax for when works gets tough?  What about in grandma and grandpa’s house?  Oxycontin for the arthritis?  Prescription drugs are everywhere!  And if grandma can take them, then surly they would be ok for my healthy teen body right?

“This whole pill addiction is here to stay, and the reason why is because we are raising a culture of kids on pills,” said Brett Bagley, program director for Purple Inc., a Lawrenceville drug treatment center for men. “All these kids have been taking pills since they were 7 or 8 years old for ADD [attention-deficit disorder].” -nineronline.com

We are used to people taking drugs to get “high.”  But, there is another side to this problem.  Teens aren’t just using Rx drugs to get buzzed  They are using them to handle the extreme pressure of simply growing up in our modern world.

Students call them “study drugs” while scientists call them “cognitive enhancers,” but nevertheless, the use and distribution of such drugs is illegal without a prescription, and yet, college students are abusing them at an increasing rate.

One such drug is Adderall, an amphetamine drug commonly prescribed to people with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. “Addy,” as students call it, is the most popular study drug on college campuses across the country, according to an article from NPR’s Michelle Trudeau. -nineronline.com

This is where Tracy Lynn’s “Rx,” comes in.  Thyme, honor student (in the top 20 of the class), student council, NHS, applying to Ivy League Schools, takes and deals prescription drugs to her peers.  Why?  She takes Adderall to study.  It helps her to focus on the content as well as not sleep so she can study late into the night after her extracurriculars are over.  Her friends?  Valium for public speaking, Paxil for social anxiety, Oxy for the injuries of the hocky team.  This book is not about stereotypical drug users.  It’s the high flyers no one ever expects.  But, as the book illustrates, the pressures teens face today can be overwhelming.  Teens that would never do “drugs” like pot or acid casually take prescriptions just to make it through the day.  This is not a fantasy.  I myself have known many people who “share” drugs because they have to speak in front of the class and are nervous.  I knew two people who were neuroleptic and would overdose on their meds the week of finals so they could stay awake and study for days on end.  Xanax is gold and Oxy is diamonds.

So, what to do?  As always, parents need to be made aware.  They need to be aware that it’s not the “typical” kids that abuse drugs, but the valedictorians as well.

Law enforcement is encouraging parents to take the seemingly-drastic step of using a lockbox to keep prescription meds safe and out of the hands of teenagers and children. -tansworldnews.com

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