SOUTH DEERFIELD — Forty percent of kids who start drinking at age 15 later become alcoholics; the average age kids are exposed to marijuana in Massachusetts is 12.8 years old.
Those are the kind of statistics related during a video called, “Athletes, Opioids and Addiction” Wednesday evening at Frontier Regional School. Narrated by addiction specialist Dr. Ruth Potee, the presentation aimed to raise awareness of how opioid addiction affects teenage athletes.
“The more you know, the more informed you are, the better your decisions are,” said Stacey Chapley, a health and science teacher and field hockey coach at the school, about the importance of the event.
Potee noted that high school athletes are at an increased risk of becoming addicted to opioid medications because of brain development during teenage years. Coupled with an increased risk for injury because of sports, the addiction expert cautioned students and parents of teenagers to think twice taking opioids for pain management.
“Very critical brain development happens between 12 and 25,” she continued. “If exposed to substances that are addicting, this is the time a pathway is laid down for a lifetime of addiction.”
Teens who undergo dental surgery are also commonly prescribed opioids.
About 20 people attended the video event, which was faclitated through a collaboration of the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office, Baystate Health, and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association, as part of a broader statewide initiative to educate people on the dangers of opioid addiction.
Laurie Loisel, director of community outreach and education at the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office, said Wednesday night’s program was the second time the video has been presented in front of a high school audience. The first showing was last night in Ware.
Going forward, Loisel said she hopes the video will be shown at schools across the state including, in the near future, Greenfield and Mohawk Trail High Schools.
“Kids should not be dispensing their own medicine,” she said, by way of explaining steps teens and parents can do to prevent addiction. “Opioids should be locked up at all times — it’s nothing to mess around with.”
Other prevention measures described in the video include seeking out alternative pain treatments such as acupuncture, massage therapy, nerve blocks or long-acting numbing medication.
“A second thing you can do is ask to limit the prescription, or ask for a partial fill of a prescription,” Potee continued, adding that any drugs not under lock and key should be disposed of at drug disposal locations, which are often in public safety buildings.
“We’re such a society of convenience, and pain is inconvenient,” agreed Heather Lawton, a health teacher and cheerleading coach at the school, after the video had ended. “We need to make more of an emphasis on holistic healing.”
Another effective and easily accessible alternative recomended during the event is the combination of tylonol and ibuprophen, which she said — in some cases — works better than a single opioid and can prevent, as Potee said “a lifetime of addiction we all want to avoid.”
To view the video, visit: vimeo.com/176348153
You can reach Andy Castillo
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On Twitter: @AndyCCastillo