The growing popularity of “Skittles” parties among Connecticut teenagers is causing Connecticut parents and educators to get real about teenage prescription drug addiction. The concept is terrifyingly simple…teenagers ransack their parents prescription drug cabinet for drugs like painkillers, oxycontin, Adderall, Xanax and Ambien…they pour all of the stolen pills into a plastic bag…they bring the pills to a party…and then they get together and pool the pills together with other stolen pills brought by their friends.
Then the teenagers take turns popping the pills like Skittles candy. The result: they either get high, overdose or go to the hospital and die.
Connecticut parents…are you paying attention yet?
Why are Connecticut teenagers risking their lives with such dangerous “Skittles” prescription drug parties? According to recent reports, one theory is that teenagers mistakenly believe the legally prescribed drugs are safer than drugs they can buy on the street. They believe the drugs must be safe if their parents are taking them and a doctor has allowed their parents to take these pills. Clearly, however, Connecticut middle school and high school students don’t realize that mixing these drugs with each other, or with alcohol, can cause severe trauma to a teenaged body and can even cause death or a stroke. Parents can stop this behavior, however, with just taking a few proactive steps to protect their prescription drugs from being stolen. First, they can store them in a locked cabinet, or somewhere where they know their children will not find them. Second, they can keep track of the number of pills in each bottle and then discard the remaining drugs when they are done with them (rather then let the half-full bottles sit in the medicine cabinet for months). And third, they can educate their children about the dangers of overdosing on pills, and combining drugs and alcohol. Too often teenagers are influenced by friends and are not properly informed of the real risks. Sitting down with your child to discuss the dangers of prescription drug abuse, or the risks of getting arrested in Connecticut for a Prescription Drug DUI / DWI can be an effective deterrent in preventing a drug overdose or Prescription Drug DUI / DWI arrest in Stamford, Greenwich, Norwalk or Darien Connecticut. Most importantly, parents must impress upon their kids about the importance of calling 911 in the event one of their friends overdoses. Too many times the best Greenwich and Westport Connecticut criminal lawyers see cases where a teenager will overdose, and the other kids are so scared they will get in trouble that they don’t call 911 until it’s too late.
As any of the best Stamford and Greenwich Connecticut criminal attorneys and lawyers have also seen, if you bring illegal prescription drugs to a party and someone dies or overdoses, you can get arrested in Connecticut for distributing narcotics, risk of injury to a minor, or even reckless manslaughter, just for transporting the illegal drugs to the party. Ask the best Connecticut criminal law firms—they see this scenario all the time. Two kids make a quick drug run for pills, bring them back to the party, and someone overdoses. Next thing you know, everyone gets arrested with felonies and it takes years of being tied up in the Connecticut criminal court system before you can get any closure in your case, jamming up your college and career aspirations. So if you are arrested or questioned in Stamford, Greenwich, Darien or New Canaan Connecticut for Possession or Distribution of Narcotics, do not talk to the police, no matter how uncomfortable or scared you are by police intimidation tactics. You can always talk to the police later on after you learn all of your rights. You need to call a top Connecticut criminal lawyer attorney to understand the consequences of what’s happened and to carefully assess the risks and benefits of sitting down with Connecticut detectives for an interview. The stakes are extremely high when you are arrested for Felony prescription drug crimes, so you want to proceed carefully and intelligently. You can follow this link for more information on fighting a Connecticut prescription drug arrest in Stamford, Greenwich, Westport, Darien or New Canaan Connecticut.
The team of Connecticut prescription drug criminal lawyers and attorneys at Mark Sherman Law have lectured to high school and middle school students in Wilton, Greenwich, Stamford, Darien and New Canaan Connecticut about the dangers or prescription drug and alcohol abuse and addiction. We are always happy to assist parents in explaining to their teenage children the criminal arrest consequences of getting caught with prescription drugs or distributing or transporting prescription drugs such as Oxycontin or Adderall to parties. There really is nothing more important than your child’s future, so if your Connecticut teenager has been arrested (or you are fearful that they may one day get themselves arrested) for a Connecticut prescription drug crime, then contact one of the Connecticut criminal lawyers at Mark Sherman Law today. One uncomfortable phone call can actually save your child’s life. Call us today at (203) 358-4700 to schedule a home visit, consultation or panel presentation.