‘Rx for disaster’ to educate local parents about dangers of teenage drug addiction Monday

Are you the parent of a Riverhead teenager or youth?

If so, Dr. Alexis Hugelmeyer, also known as “Dr. Mom” in her weekly column for RiverheadLOCAL, hopes you will attend Monday evening’s “Rx for disaster,” a presentation designed to inform parents of the difficulties of teenage drug addiction and the dangers of the household medicine chest. (Read Hugelmeyer’s heartfelt blog on why this program is being presented again this year. Click here)

The forum, which will be held at 7 p.m. on Monday at Riverhead High School, will not only educate parents about the dangerous effects of prescription pain killers and other over-the-counter drugs, but will also provide parents with the tools needed to face a potential problem head-on and help avoid a fatal ending.

Hugelmeyer’s sister-in-law, Cathy L., will tell the tale of the loss of her son, Philip, a handsome young boy who died at age 20 from a heroin overdose. (Her brother is RHS assistant principal Michael Hugelmeyer, the doctor’s husband.)

Many times, Hugelmeyer said, heroin overdoses occur after teenagers have become hooked on painkillers like Percocet or Vicodin and can no longer afford the high prices for the pills.

Heroin is a stronger version of the opiates and can cost as little as $5 a packet.

“I would love to see all the parents there on Monday,” said Hugelmeyer. “Whether your kid is using, has tried these drugs or has never heard of them, parents need to know what to say and how to prevent these problems.”

She said drug addiction is such a difficult issue to face that even though her nephew, Philip, had a physician in his immediate
family and had been in rehab a handful of times, he still did not survive the fatal affliction of opiate addiction.

“I, as a physician, took him to three different hospitals and he went through five different rehab programs and he still died,” Hugelmeyer said. “Every time he went back to using. Drug addiction is a chronic disease that requires a lot of work, even after one has gotten clean.”

This makes the forum all the more important for parents to attend, she said.

“I think last year’s forum generated enough of a buzz that the community is going to be interested, but this year students will get extra credit in their social studies’ classes if their parents attend the forum,” said Hugelmeyer. “The biggest thing people need to learn is how to understand and identify when there’s a problem and then to understand that you cannot cure a drug addiction without professional help. Detoxing from narcotics is severe and ugly and you need professional help to detox appropriately. Most importantly, you need to understand psychologically why the person is taking these drugs and treat that underlying reason.”

She said a big issue with teenage drug addiction is that many adults are not aware that kids misuse them.

“The doctors don’t explain anything about the drugs and the kids know they’re in the medicine chest,” Hugelmeyer said. “They have ‘pharming parties,’ where they throw all the pills in a bowl and whatever you pick out is the high that you get. Even if your kids aren’t taking pills from the medicine cabinet, their friends could be.”

Saturday, April 27, is National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, so Riverhead residents are urged to bring old or unneeded prescription medication to Riverhead Town Police Headquarters at 210 Howell Avenue, Peconic Bay Medical Center at 1300 Roanoke Avenue or Martin Drugs at 849 Old Country Rd. 

The Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office will also be on hand to collect unused prescription medications at Riverhead High School Monday evening from 6:30 to 8 p.m. to collect both prescription and over-the-counter drugs for free, safe disposal.

Correction: A previously published version of this story incorrectly stated that Cathy L. is the wife of RHS assistant principal Michael Hugelmeyer. She is his sister.