AnonymousBy an edhat reader
Wondering if anyone knows why the 3-4 deaths of college kids in the past year from drugs are not covered in the local news media? It seems particularly newsworthy to me.
[Yesterday], there was a story about how Narcan saved the life of a college kid who stopped breathing due to drugs with another one added this morning. SBCC also had three students die since September, one from Xanax and not heroin.
As a parent, I feel we need to be sounding the alarm about the epidemic of cheap, powerful and deadly drugs being used by our local college students to the point of death. Let’s hope it doesn’t trickle down to high school students next.
Community awareness is key to measuring progress on behalf of our local government, school administrators as well as the students and parents themselves. We also need to be aware that the drug epidemic is perhaps worse now in Santa Barbara than at any other time in our history and that is a troubling trend.
A recent article reports drug deaths have spiked since 2015 nearly doubling.
If “everyone knows” then why is there such a spike of overdoses? Again, this is a statistical anomaly that the majority isn’t grasping. Also, they’re dying of Xanax which is an anti-anxiety drug. Maybe fake Xanax or fentanyl with a beer is all it takes to stop breathing which is what these narcan cases often are about.
As far as being smart enough to get into school, that seems to imply they sort of deserve it if they are that dumb. I disagree. Many kids and their enabling parents send them off for “the college experience,” again, not realizing the true dangers they face nowadays.
Kevin – I wouldn’t belittle parents by calling them “enabling” simply for wanting to give their young adult children the college experience. Do you find fault in the parents for allowing them to go off to college?
I dont believe I said that anywhere. I’m not against college whatsoever. I’m for the media getting the word out about an epidemic of deaths of college kids here in Santa Barbara specifically, 3-4 of which I know were not reported in the news. Case in point, since o wrote to Edhat, a second kid overdosed and presumably would’ve died but for quick application of Narcan. What prompted me to write was the fact that KEYT decided to plucking how the narcan saved someone but they never publish he these other drugs are killing so many kids locally. I am Not for publishing suicides as I said elsewhere. I think parents are generally unaware of the new stronger drugs. Heck, I think the kids who died who weren’t suicidal were unaware too or else they wouldn’t have taken those drugs. That’s the whole point.
Right I did. I see that now. But don’t get sidetracked. You can’t possivly think that’s the point. Parents can send kids off or do whatever they want. But my main point is they might see it differently if they appreciated the increased risk.
As for enabling that is a separate discussion. I suppose a parent sending any kid with a drug problem off to school with a credit card is
“enabling.” But this isn’t about generally going to college- I’m not advocating for parents to stop sending their kids to college …
This is a blog/website not a journal article, so forgive my imprecision where it occurs. And best to stick to the main point, which is hopefully saving some lives this year.
Kevin – also keep in mind that many, if not most, kids that use drugs in college, didn’t go in with a drug problem. The college age years are full of experimentation and many kids try drugs for the first time in college. Also, keep in mind that many times, drugs can be spiked with stronger things, so a kid may think they’re doing one thing but really getting hit with something else. Hard to blame anyone but the drug dealers on that one. You seem to be focused on the parents, I think the responsibility lies with the kids – they need to know the dangers.
It can be referred to as “Darwin’s Law”. If you are stupid enough to take meth and opioids for recreational pleasure, well, then I am sorry for you. Life is full of choices that stay with us the rest of our lives. It’s called taking personal responsibility- It’s no joke after you are 18 yrs old.
People make choices all the time. Respect them.
There have been suicides at UCSB and in IV as long as I can remember. Young people are definitely feeling everything intensely, and as they start looking toward their prospects as adults in this tumultuous time, many see little hope for the future. I don’t think that is going to change any time soon. Drugs are a secondary symptom of the problem- if you don’t want to face your reality, drugs help you not feel bothered by it as much. Unfortunately the easy accessibility of opioids and the perceived ‘safety’ of prescription medication makes it dangerous to dabble in them, which can lead to accidental overdose.
There are definitely stronger drugs out there now. The amount of accidental overdoses within our local community, and also looking at celebrity deaths, within this past year have increased. Fentanyl is being cut into nearly everything and it is killing people. Something needs to be done.
As a parent, do you feel that young peoples’ tragic suicides should be made into news? I’m a parent and I definitely do not. Regardless of whether it may increase awareness about the drug problem, posting news stories about suicides just for the purpose of calling attention to a well-known problem is kind of ghoulish, in my opinion.
Solution is simple- Has nothing to do with government / school intervention- everyone knows by now that opioids and meth are not for recreational use… don’t they? I mean they passed a college entrance exam right…?
Coastwatch – how are opioids and meth not recreational? That’s exactly what they are – recreational (as opposed to medicinal, etc) drugs. Also, what’s you simple “solution?”
I am a former addict (severe) and it’s totally a choice. Nobody holds a gun to your head each day and makes you use drugs, you wake (or stay up for days on end) and choose to use them. I don’t believe for one second that that drug use is an illness.
Why is no one pointing the finger at the manufacturers and MDs that are selling this stuff to make bucks for themselves? “The number of opioid prescriptions dispensed by doctors steadily increased from 112 million prescriptions in 1992 to a peak of 282 million in 2012, according to the market research firm IMS Health. See: “https://www.cnn.com/2017/09/18/health/opioid-crisis-fast-facts/index.html Or is it just more fun to blame the Mexican drug cartels or the Chinese or anything that is not part of the “American Free Enterprise System”?