Luke Reisinger, a 19-year-old undeclared University sophomore, died Feb. 4 after taking a combination of Suboxone, alcohol and possibly Xanax.

Reisinger’s untimely death shook his unsuspecting friends and family members, but it calls attention to a prevalent issue affecting Baton Rouge and the rest of the nation: prescription drug abuse.

The combination of the three substances Reisinger took — an opioid, benzodiazepine and alcohol — can lead to respiratory failure, as was his case. With this mixture in the wrong doses, the central nervous system is depressed to the point that the brain forgets to tell the diaphragm to move up and down, as Shane Evans, the chief of investigations for the East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner’s Office, explained. No diaphragm movement means no breathing.

According to data from the coroner’s office, there were 27 deaths in 2012 in East Baton Rouge Parish due to overdose. While this includes all drugs such as heroin and other substances, Evans said prescription drugs are to blame for the vast majority. Of those 27, eight weren’t yet 30 years old.

Mary Jackson, clinical supervisor for the Baton Rouge Area Alcohol and Drug Center, sang a tune similar to Evans’. The average age of the clients coming in is 23, and most are there for a detox from opiates or a combination of pain pills, she said.

“We’re seeing a lot of young people come in,” Jackson said. “We didn’t used to see this 13 years ago.”

The vast majority of the cases Evans said he sees sound a lot like Reisinger — 18 to 29-year-olds combining an opiate such as codeine or Lortab, a benzodiazepine like Xanax or Valium, and alcohol. This is appealing because the opioid mixed with a benzodiazepine produces a better high, Evans said.

“Opiate is the new crack cocaine. It’s very prevalent,” Jackson said.

Jackson said this is a relatively new trend, with an audience decreasing in age. The center’s clients are about evenly divided between court-ordered, family and self-referrals, she said.

A NATIONAL TREND

Baton Rouge isn’t the only place where prescription drug abuse is a prevalent issue. This sort of drug abuse has been taking the nation by storm in recent years.

Pharmaceutical overdose deaths in the United States have increased for the 11th year in a row in 2010, according to the most recent data released by the National Center for Health Statistics and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The report found that of the 38,329 drug overdose deaths in 2010, 57.7 percent involved pharmaceuticals, and 75.2 percent of those pharmaceuticals were opioids. The second-most common was benzodiazepines, comprising 29.4 percent of overdose deaths. About two-thirds of those deaths were accidental.

Terry Davis, public information officer for the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Orleans division, said the abuse of pharmaceutical drugs is high on the list of the DEA’s priorities.

The DEA has labeled pharmaceutical drugs as the No. 2 drug threat around the world, second only to cocaine, Davis said.

“It’s at the epidemic stage at this point,” he said, noting the number of overdose deaths associated with prescription drugs.

Davis said the DEA has seen a marked increase in the abuse of pharmaceutical drugs in the last two to five years.

Louisiana ranks above the national average for frequency of nonmedical use of prescription pain relievers from 2010-11, according to National Survey on Drug Use and Health Report released in January 2013.

According to the report, 11.6 percent of 18 to 25-year-olds in Louisiana had used prescription pain relievers in the year 2010-11. The national average was 10.43 percent.

THE SOURCE

Why has this type of substance abuse become so popular in recent years?

Accessibility is a major reason. Open a family member’s medicine cabinet and chances are prescription drugs will be there — a free, easy way to get high in your own home.

This is where the majority, or 54.2 percent, of prescription pain relievers for nonmedical use are obtained. The next most common source is from individual doctors, comprising 18.1 percent of sources, according to 2010-11 data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

Once doctors who will prescribe benzodiazepines or pain relievers have been identified, it doesn’t take much longer for those drugs to hit the streets, Evans said.

In addition to nabbing pills from cabinets and legitimate prescriptions from doctors, Cpl. Tommy Stubbs of the Baton Rouge Police Department said forgeries are also “a big deal right now.”

Forgeries occur through people stealing prescription pads from doctors’ offices and forging their signatures for pharmaceuticals, Stubbs said. Stealing prescriptions from others is also an issue, he added.

“There are people that will go through desperate means, even if that means they have a high chance of getting caught,” Stubbs said.

Evans said another reason for prescription drugs’ popularity is the low risk of law enforcement intervention and arrest for possession. If a person’s name is on a pill bottle, chances are, an officer is “more likely to accept that than a bag of white powder.”

An online subculture has emerged to guide people in “safely” mixing substances like benzodiazepines. However, Evans said there are no specific parameters for doing so since there are numerous unknown factors and the effects depend on individuals’ body size and tolerance level.

Type “mixing op” into a Google search and the second suggested search is “mixing opiates and benzos.” The first result leads to a forum discussion on the website Bluelight, with the first post reading:

“hey guys, hope everyone’s doin’ goooood. Gotta quick question maybe you guys can help me out …. Maybe some of you have seen me writing on other people threads how I have had friends die from heroin/benzo combinations… well recently I’ve been using OP 80s mixed with my benzo prescription and have found it very enjoyable. I would like to hear some people’s opinions on whether this is dangerous so I can make a good decision if I should keep using this combo.” [sic]

“It’s people that are online that are giving advice saying, ‘If you take these amounts, then you should be OK, but I’m not responsible,’” Evans said.

SEARCHING FOR SOLUTIONS

In an effort to take unwanted prescription drugs off the street, the DEA has collaborated with state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to implement national drug take-back days.

For four hours on a Saturday, residents are invited to dispose of any prescription drugs they may have sitting around. The next event is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on April 27.

At the April 28, 2012 take-back day, Davis said the DEA’s New Orleans division, which comprises Louisiana, Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi, collected more than 19,000 pounds of unwanted prescription drugs.

“Those particular programs have led us to collect tons of unwanted prescription drugs that would’ve potentially ended up in the hands of an unwanted abuser or our water system,” Davis said.

Davis said the DEA’s take-back days were a stepping stone for the Safe and Secure Drug Disposal Act that President Barack Obama signed into law in 2010. The law helps people dispose of controlled substances more easily and safely.

In an attempt to combat forgeries, Stubbs said pharmacists are undergoing more training to be able to identify fraudulent prescriptions. They’re working more closely with doctors and are taught to look for unusual quantities.

Baton Rouge has numerous drug rehabilitation and detox centers. Jackson said the Baton Rouge Area Alcohol and Drug Center utilizes the 12-step program, but said “there are a lot of relapses between successes.”

“The success rate isn’t very high, depending on how you look at it,” Jackson said. “But the time [patients] relapse eventually decreases.”