PRESCRIPTION DRUG ABUSE ESCALATES

A 16-year-old boy overdosed this weekend on a prescription drug given to
him by an alleged drug dealer in Church Point, Acadia Parish Sheriff Wayne
Melancon said. The teen's story of prescription drug abuse is part of a
growing trend, according to a new national report.

Joseph Larry Hoffpauir, 61, was arrested for allegedly giving the boy the
prescription depressant Xanax. The boy overdosed on the drug and ended up
in the hospital; he was set to be released Monday.

"These illegal drugs are now trickling down to our children and
grandchildren," Melancon said in a news release. "We have to put a stop to it."

Abuse of prescription drugs like Xanax is on the rise, according to a study
released in July by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at
Columbia University.

Prescription drug abuse doubled between 1992 and 2003, from 7.8 million to
15.1 million, and abuse among teens has more than tripled during that time,
according to the study.

More people are getting prescriptions for the drugs, which include opioids
like OxyContin and Vicodin, depressants like Valium and Xanax and
stimulants like Ritalin and Adderall, the report said.

Young people are particularly affected. The number of 12- to 17-year-olds
who abused controlled prescription drugs jumped 212 percent during those 11
years studied.

"It's a different industry," said Dr. Joe Abraham, a former Lafayette
emergency room doctor. "If I'm working an emergency room in the middle of
nowhere, and someone comes in and they're in a lot of pain, and I can't get
a hold of their doctor, what do you do?"

Scams to get the drugs from doctors and hospitals are prevalent, and the
drugs are easily available on the Internet, the study said.

Logan Lemaire, the owner and pharmacist at The Medicine Shoppe on Johnston
Street, said the drugs are helpful when used properly.

"OxyContin and other medicines, they have helped people who can't otherwise
lead a productive life," Lemaire said. "There are always the ones that get
by some kind of way, but ... we (pharmacists) get to be a pretty good judge
of people."

Lemaire said he's refused to fill prescriptions for people he suspected
were abusing the drugs, and if he's in doubt, he'll call the doctor who
wrote the prescription.

Now, some doctors are requiring a printout from the patient's pharmacist
with their drug history before writing another prescription, Lemaire said.

As for the 16-year-old in Church Point, it's unclear just how he got a hold
of the drug.

"Right now, I don't know if (the Xanax) was bought or given. I'm still
conducting that investigation right now," said Acadia Parish Sheriff's Lt.
Dale Thibodeaux.

In an unrelated incident, Joseph Tyrone Harrison, 17, was arrested at North
Park in Church Point for allegedly giving marijuana to a 14-year-old boy.
Harrison allegedly wanted the boy to sell the drugs for him; the boy also
was arrested and released in the custody of a guardian.

Nineteen-year-old Andre Aymond also was arrested for having marijuana in
his car while his 16-year-old girlfriend was a passenger. Sheriff's
deputies arrested him during a traffic stop.

Melancon called the three arrests "an alarming trend" of selling or giving
drugs to persons under 18.