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SKITTLES/PHARM PARTIES
Williston, ND
701-572-7718
Proud to be a drug
free workplace
and supporter!
Proud to give our youth the
POWER to remain ABUSE FREE!
701-774-8361
13958 W. Front St.
Williston, ND
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www.howard-supply.com
WHAT ARE " SKITTLES " or
" PHARM " PARTIES?
At age 14, a young girl that we will call
“Becky”, walked into a New Year's Eve party
at a friend's house, drank a couple of shots
of Bacardi 151 rum, and made her way to a
Ziploc bag filled with pills.
"There were Ecstasy, Xanax, Percocets,
Valium and other pills in the bag that
night," Becky said. "I took four Ecstasy pills
and a Xanax."
Throughout her teenage years, Becky
attended at least 20 parties like this, the
now 23-year-old said. She would take handfuls of pills, wash some down with alcohol,
and save the rest for later. And she's not
alone. According to experts, such parties,
known as "Skittles parties" (because of the
brightly colored pills) or "pharm parties,"
have rapidly gained popularity among
teens.
"At a lot of the parties, they just throw
the pills on the table," Becky said. "It's like
candy that you can take home with you."
Teens are taking painkillers, mainly highly
addictive opioids such as OxyContin and
Source: www.livescience.com/18539-3-dangerous-drug-habits-teens.html
Vicodin, from medicine cabinets in their
own homes, said Dr. Petros Levounis,
director of the Addiction Institute of New
York in Manhattan.
"They're getting these prescription pills
from parents or grandparents," Levounis
said. "Say I go to the dentist for a tooth
extraction and I get 30 painkillers and
maybe take one. My granddaughter could
go into my medicine cabinet without me
knowing and bring the rest of the pills to
a party."
A recent report from researchers at the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
found that each year, more people die from
prescription painkiller overdoses than from
heroin and cocaine overdoses combined.
Skalsky Auto Sales,
Inc.
701-770-4374
We are proud
to support
preventative
education for our
youth.
421 Airport Road • Williston, ND
310 Airport Road • Williston, ND
701-774-2201
"Addiction to prescription opioids has
become the most important problem we
face," Levounis said.
Pass it on: Many teens are getting dangerous highs from drugs easily found in
stores or homes.
We are proud to support our
future leaders in their efforts to
remain ABUSE FREE!
abusemagazine.org | North Dakota Spring/Summer 2014 |
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