Riverhead drug abuse forum: One mom describes ‘journey through the depths of hell’

The audience in the Riverhead High School auditorium sat spellbound as “Cathy L.” read from the journal of her 20-year-old son Philip, who died of a heroin overdose two years ago, just four days shy of his 21st birthday. Cathy’s voice broke often as she recounted the details of her “nine year journey through the depths of hell” — one that ended with her unsuccessful attempt at CPR when she found her son, unresponsive after a heroin overdose.

Audience members wiped away tears as Cathy told the story of how Philip’s addiction escalated from trying marijuana as a junior high school student to using Ketamine, Ecstasy, cocaine, and mushrooms by 9th grade, and then Xanax, Percocet and OxyContin, before finally graduating to heroin when his pill habit became too expensive to maintain.

Philip was the nephew of Riverhead High School Assistant Principal Michael Hugelmeyer, whose sister and wife, Dr. Alexis Hugelmeyer, D.O., Administrative Director of Medical Education at Peconic Bay Medical Center were the keynote speakers at a forum presented by the Riverhead Community Coalition for Safe and Drug-Free Youth Thursday night at Riverhead High School. The same program was presented to 1,500 students during the school day Thursday. Riverhead High School Principal David Wicks called it the “best student presentation about drug issues” he had ever seen. The high school audience was “quiet, focused and intent” during the entire talk, Wicks said.

Dr. Hugelmeyer’s 90-minute program included a slideshow and some shocking statistics. Addicts no longer look like “junkies,” she said. They’re more likely to look like Philip, “handsome, healthy, vibrant, a good student, a great athlete, and a kid with terrific family support.” One in five students have abused prescription drugs, and while Percocet and OxyContin can cost between $10 and $80 per pill, a bag of heroin can cost as little as $5. With most addicts taking about five or six pills daily, heroin quickly becomes a much more affordable alternative.

Drug overdose is the second leading cause of accidental death among 12-17 year olds, behind automobile accidents, Hugelmeyer said. In New York State, doctors and parents cannot force a child into a treatment facility or keep them there once they are admitted unless the child is deemed suicidal, she said. Treatment centers are difficult to get into, and even after being clean for a year, there is an 85 percent chance of relapse.

Hugelmeyer explained how a person’s brain physiologically changes from the very first time a person uses a narcotic. The brain’s natural response to narcotics is to make more receptors for the drug each time they are used which leads to a rapidly increasing tolerance for the drug.

After the slide show, a panel of experts spoke briefly about what the prescription drug epidemic here in Riverhead looks like to them.

Riverhead Police Lt. Rick Boden said increased drug use has brought with it an uptick in neighborhood burglaries and an increase in the number of people driving under the influence of drugs.

Ryan Hunter, senior Assistant District Attorney for Suffolk County, said there is an increased number of arrests and convictions for forged prescriptions.

Capt. A.J. McIntyre of the Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance Corps urged parents to call 911 as soon as they suspect a child might have overdosed on drugs – even if no symptoms are showing. “Catching a drug overdose early makes acute treatment easier,” he said.

All agreed that prevention is the best weapon in the battle to stem a problem that is reaching epidemic proportions.

Prompt and proper disposal of unused prescription drugs is something we can all do easily and without cost, said Jack Kann, director of pharmacy services at Peconic Bay Medical Center.

The federal drug enforcement agency schedules prescription drug take-back days at least twice a year. The next one is coming up tomorrow, Saturday, April 28, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Local take-back locations are: Peconic Bay Medical Center, 1300 Roanoke Avenue, Riverhead; N.Y. State Police barracks, 234 Riverleigh Avenue, Riverside; and the Riverhead Police Department headquarters, 210 Howell Avenue; Riverhead.

Information about drug use awareness, treatment and services was made available by more than a dozen organizations, who set up tables in the hallway outside the auditorium.

Photo captions: (Top) Dr. Alexis Hugelmeyer giving her presentation; (Middle) Cathy L. speaks of her painful experience as the mother of an addict; RiverheadLOCAL photos by April Pokorny. (Bottom) Philip L., Cathy’s son and Hugelmeyer’s nephew, in a family photo.