UNM professor wins national award

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - According to a professor at UNM’s College of Pharmacy, about 2,500 kids in America abuse a painkiller everyday.

Professor Megan Thompson said a lot of those kids have no idea what they're taking. So, she's been showing them what they're doing to themselves through a program that won a national award.

“It's an epidemic actually, especially here in New Mexico,” Thompson said.

A day before Thompson was set to speak to La Cueva High School students about the dangers of taking pills, police arrested a student at the school who they say was selling oxycodone and adderall.

During Thompson’s presentation, almost the entire class raised their hands when asked if they thought prescription drug abuse was problem in the community.

“Prescription drugs are cleaner. They don't have to go through a drug dealer to get them. They can just go through a medicine cabinet. In some ways they think prescription drugs are much safer,” Thompson said.

Thompson says kids take pills out of bottles from their parent’s and grandparent’s medicine cabinets which is called pharming and then throw parties.

As part of her program Thompson uses candy as pills and has a pharming party of her own.

“The blue one is percocet. You had two white ones which is vicodin and you also had something called valium,” Thompson told a student who volunteered to take part of her presentation.

She then goes through the consequences.

“You actually will go into respiratory arrest,” said Thompson.

Another student finds out what happens when you take too many muscle relaxers.

“Not only are you going to start feeling really relaxed but it also causes relaxation of bowels and bladder. So, he's going to wet his pants in front of all of you,” Thompson said.

Thompson says there is a short path from abusing prescription meds to using heroin.

“The teenagers who have abused this in the past will say I loved the way that it made me feel the first time I took it. When the prescription runs out, what then? Then they turn to heroin because it gives them the same type of feeling as it did with prescription meds,” Thompson said.

Heroin overdoses have already cost several La Cueva students their lives in recent years.

By the end of Thompson's presentation some students have gotten the message. One volunteer says no to trying the prescription meds.

“They might die. I don't want to die,” said a student.

Thompson has taken her message to schools, neighborhood associations and senior centers across the city.

She recently won the New Generation RX Award of Excellence. The national award is given to people for doing outreach in their community on the dangers of prescription drug abuse.

“I'm humbled and honored. But, I just feel like it's the right thing to do. It's a public service that I'm obligated to do as a pharmacists,” Thompson said.