Pharm parties—short for pharmaceuticals—are beginning to be a rapid growing pill-popping party for teens and young adults according to Rutherford.
“Some teens steal prescription drugs from their parents’ medicine cabinets and mix the pills into a bowl when they go to a party or have a get together…then they grab a handful of pills not knowing what kind of pills they have and take them all at one time,” Rutherford said.
Rutherford said pharm parties have been around since the 1960s but the name of the party then was called punch bowl parties. He said many youths in Sequoyah County are aware of these pharm parties and many have said pharm parties do occur in the county.
The most commonly used prescription pills used are Vicodin, OxyContin, Ritalin, Xanax and Adderall.
“Prescription drug abuse is a growing epidemic in Oklahoma,” Mark Woodward, Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics (OBN) spokesman, said. “It’s unnecessary and unsafe to leave outdated drugs in the house. Prescription pill abusers can target old, expired medications left in the home. Teenagers can also target their parent’s current or expired prescription drugs to abuse, trade or sell in order to obtain alcohol, marijuana or other drugs.”
The NOW Coalition, Sallisaw Police Department and the Sequoyah County Sheriff’s Office is assisting the OBN with an event, which aims at helping parents to dispose of expired prescription medication.
Prescription Drug Awareness Week began Monday. The public will get an opportunity to safely dispose of expired or unneeded prescription drugs with no questions asked during the take-back Prescription Drug Program drop off from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday either at the Sequoyah County Sheriff’s Office or the Sallisaw Police Department.
“We’ve held similar events in the past that has been very successful,” Woodward said.
“All citizens have the opportunity to get involved in the statewide prescription take-back program and by doing so will make their homes safer,” Darrell Weaver, OBN director, said.
“So many teenagers feel that since these drugs are prescribed by doctors that the drugs are safe to use in any way,” Rutherford said. “It’s frightening. These teenagers can easily overdose resulting in death or a life-long problem.”
