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Feb 15, 2008 8:57 pm US/Central
Teenagers Raiding Medicine Cabinets For 'Pharming'
DALLAS (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
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Prescription medicines, graphic element on black
AP
Anyone who has had knee surgery, an aching back or trouble sleeping has probably been prescribed some sort of medication to help get through the ailment. But the medicine cabinet could be the new gateway to drug addiction for teenagers.
It is called 'Pharming' as in pharmaceuticals, or 'Skittles Parties.' Young people, usually in high school or junior high school, pilfer through their parents' medicine cabinets and contribute a large variety of pills to a gathering of friends.
Drug abuse experts say that pharmaceutical drug abuse among adolescents is growing at a faster pace than that of illegal drugs.
Many of the kids who get involved in the parties become addicts.
Kyle Sweney started experimenting when he was 13 years old, stealing his father's medication after his dad had knee surgery. Sweney said of his father's prescription, "He ended up getting 100 oxycodone per month, and I was stealing 50, 60 per month."
"It was always a kegger out in a field somewhere," Sweney continued. "If I didn't want what was there, I'd find someone there who could get it for me, whether it be Zana, Valium or Aderold."
Sweney did not just steal drugs from his dad's briefcase. He also stole money from the family business. "In all, I probably took a total of $50,000."
It also started as a harmless experiment for Zac Belt. "I have a lot of friends that did use, and their parents never knew," he said.
The pain in Belt's Plano home was almost unbearable. Home drug tests showed that both Belt and his older brother were medicine cabinet addicts. "We couldn't dream anymore about our boys going to college," said Kathy Belt, Zac's mother. "They didn't care about going to college. They didn't care about doing the work that was due the very next day."
"I've listened to both of my boys scream 'I hate you!' to their father who loves them dearly," Kathy said.
Zac Belt said, "I wanted nothing more than for my parents to quit calling me. Let me get high. Let me kill myself."
Sweney has now been through drug treatment and is living in a Dallas home with about 15 other recovering addicts. The group home helps provide support for them to stay sober.
Sweney and Belt have both relapsed multiple times, but are now staying clear of the medicine they used to ingest like candy.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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