Most parents keep a wary eye for signs of alcohol and marijuana use and many are at least aware that illegal street drugs could be a problem.

What parents rarely think about, however, is the old bottle of left over painkillers tossed to the back of the toddler proof medicine cabinet. Most never worry our nimble fingered adolescents will check out dad's Vicodin answer to back pain or mom's nerve soothing Xanax.

Parents should. The risk is absolutely there and parents need to take it seriously. "Over the past five years we have seen a doubling of kids coming in for treatment who started with oral narcotics (prescription pain-killers) and then jumped to heroin fast," says John Massella,

The issue Massella has seen locally is mirrored across the nation. The

latest study by Partnership for a Drug Free America indicates that close to 20 percent of today's teens have used prescription drugs non-medially, that is, to get high.

The number one reason is ease of access. Three out of five kids in the study felt it was very easy to get prescription drugs from their parents' medicine cabinets. Close to the same number thought it was easier to get prescription drugs than illegal drugs. Even more

alarming, though perhaps not surprising in the age of a pill to cure everything, is the fact that two out of five teens believe it is safer to use prescription drugs, even when not prescribed, than it is to use street drugs.

They couldn't be more wrong. "These are narcotics - hard drugs, Massella said. "Heroin was originally developed by the Bayer Corporation as a painkiller; Methadone was a pain medication developed in Nazi Germany in WWII. But we loose sight on history and it makes us feel like prescription drugs are not a problem."

The perception of prescription drugs somehow being safer and less stigmatized is critical and deadly. "Alcohol is still the biggest gateway drug there is," Massella said, "but we are seeing a change in usage patterns. The jump to narcotics (legal and illegal) is happening much quicker."

Addiction to prescription drugs such as OxyContin, opium based painkiller that abusers grind and snort, is bad enough. Massella has seen many cases where adolescents start misusing prescription drug then quickly switch to selling the pills to pay for heroin. "They start by

snorting and think it is not so bad." Kids who would never dream of being a heroin dealer think nothing of giving a prescription pill to friends in exchange for a few dollars. "They don't think they are drug dealing, but according to the law, they are," Massella said. The

relative newness of prescription drug abuse raises issues for recognition and treatment of the problem. It just isn't on the radar screen for many parents. Most parents don't know what 'garbage canning' is, where kids steal a little of any prescriptions they find at home and share it with friends at parties. Many people simply don't track

their prescription usage in enough detail to realize a few pills are missing here and there.

Massella noted that lack of awareness, denial and stigma can all play a role in kids not getting the treatment they need for a serious problem.

Massella recounted, anonymously of course, the story of a local adolescent who did well in school and in sports. His parents initially attributed an attitude change to hormones but eventually discovered, through drug testing, that he was using OxyContin to the tune of 240 mg per day.

Despite the severity of the addiction and the teen's own request for in-patient treatment the parents were convinced it could be handled with out patient care. The teen eventually checked himself in for treatment and is doing well.

"If your kid is on narcotics it is not a phase they are going through," cautioned Massella. He feels the best thing parents can do for troubled teens is to stop filtering today's situations through their own past.

"We need to get our own history and our past experience out of our head. There aren't any safe drugs." Some local schools districts are

being pro-active in dealing with prescription drug abuse as a potential

issue. Massella said many South Hills school districts are not thorough enough in following through when kids are identified as at risk, but he credits Bethel Park as one example of a district that makes sure kids who need help get it. Massella also pointed to Upper St. Clair as a

community that is proactive in disseminating information about potential issues. He will speak at a seminar sponsored by the Upper St. Clair Youth Steering Committe and Together in Parenting, a committee of the Upper St. Clair PTA Council. The topic will be prescription drug

abuse at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 23. In the past, Massella said, he has as had good attendance from parents in Upper St. Clair. The seminar is open to all South Hills residents. (see side bar for details)

Though not referencing a particular community, Massella noted that prescription drug addiction and abuse can be more prevalent in middle and upper middle class neighborhoods, primarily due to the cost of prescription drugs. But anyone in the South Hills who thinks it is not

happening in their area "has their head in the sand", he emphasized.

"We treat kids from everywhere."

According to Massella, parents have to "have super vision and be super vigilant" when it comes to protecting their children. With easy access and high popularity of prescription drugs, falling into drug addiction

can happen much faster than people realize.

"It's easy to take a pill - then it becomes hard not to," he said.

Despite teen drug abuse being a very real problem John Massella is not discouraged and doesn't want others to be either. "People think, I am just one person, what can I do? But they can do a lot for one child."

Massella urges parents and community members to get informed and get involved.