Noskowiak

[keefe]

A lot of it has come from the overprescription of meds to kids. From adderall and stimulants for focus to oxycodone for painkillers, kids are being prescribed more and more meds at a younger age. The problem is when the script runs out they still want to chase the high.

We've seen a massive spike in heroin over the past 3-4 years. Much of that is attributed to the availability of oxycodone and percocet. Not just for kids, but for the general population. But with kids, they get the prescription, then it runs out, they want to chase the high but getting an oxy or perc runs $20-30 per tablet. Heroin, on the other hand, is $5-10 for a bag and hits with a lot more oomph.

Kids can afford the cheaper high and drug dealers are realizing this market. And while some want to go for coke or other stimulants to replace the adderall/ritalin they were on, the price of coke has gone way up in the past decade or so, so instead they just go for the opiates. It never ceases to amaze me how many kids that are clearly from the suburbs end up overdosing in some of Milwaukee's worst neighborhoods. It's absolutely tragic.

Then when you add in all of the cuts to MPD from the Mayor and Police Chief...MPD pretty much doesn't even have a drug task force anymore. Dealers target script addicts and the police have been neutered in our city. I'm sure it's not just here, but it's very evident in Milwaukee, which makes it all easy to get across Southeastern Wisconsin.

This is all such scary stuff. When we were in high school it was beer and weed. Nowadays, kids are chasing much more dangerous highs.

I think there is merit to your thinking about the pharmaceutical emphasis of both primary and specialist care in America. It is so much easier to treat the symptoms of conditions through chemistry than to engage in more elemental therapeutic regimens that are costlier and more problematic. (Much of this has to do with our payor system, as well.)

You and Tower see the impact of this crisis on a more personal, and in some ways, more visceral level. I have been in refugee camps, supported those assisting the victims of human trafficking, and seen the collateral casualties of war. I had the benefit of distance whereas responders have to pick up the pieces. From my experiences, the most haunting images are the young.

I give you guys all the credit in the world. Picking up those pieces must put little tears in one's soul.     

[avid1010]

Don't know the insinuations. Guy has had multiple chance already to turn his life around. Worst part about it is he accused his dad of abuse, which seems to be a lie. Multiple chances to get back on his high school team and MU stood by his side until the very end. Then he's open and all these major schools go after him again. Guy has more perspective than most kids his age and he still making childish mistakes. Strikes me as a punk ass who thinks he's above most. Honestly, if he wasn't a player he'd just be another kid out of high school making bad decisions. Plenty other kids truly born into tragic situations that deserve people's attention. Look no further than the city of Milwaukee.

spent many years working with kids with serious issues...most that come from really tough homes.  things i never new existed, and still find most adults don't...but i've always found empathy for all kids. 

[Avenue Commons]

When in God's name did some of these hard drugs become so vogue? I am far from a prude and I have guzzled my share of alcohol but I have never understood the appeal of opioids and amphetamines.

Ethyl alcohol has done more damage than all the other drugs in the world combined. How many families has it destroyed? Fights? Rapes? Deaths? Careers ruined?

Booze just happens to be legal.

[GGGG]

Ethyl alcohol has done more damage than all the other drugs in the world combined. How many families has it destroyed? Fights? Rapes? Deaths? Careers ruined?

Booze just happens to be legal.

But nowhere near as addictive.  That is the problem.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Sad.  Nick is a good kid with a lot of problems.  Let's not judge.  Godspeed to recovery.

[PGsHeroes32]

Ethyl alcohol has done more damage than all the other drugs in the world combined. How many families has it destroyed? Fights? Rapes? Deaths? Careers ruined?

Booze just happens to be legal.

Yeah alcohol can obviously have its affects as well.

But it's nowhere near as lethal as most drugs.

You hear about things like drug ODs all the time. Alcohol..not so much.

[Skitch]

Where is the talk of opiates and "harder" drugs coming from? I didn't see anything in that link. Was there something earlier or are people speculating?

[GooooMarquette]

Very sad.  Good luck to the kid.

[Dawson Rental]

I feel bad for the kid, but this seems to be the difference between a brent recruit and a Wojo recruit.

That seems to be a silly statement since both coaches successfully recruited him to Marquette.

[Warrior Code]

We have had a lot of heroin mixed with fentanyl lately.    Personally run on over a half-dozen cases in the last year of users nearly in cardiac arrest brought back with narcan.    Then they usually come out of it pissed that we are there.

Narcan is crazy. You were dead to the world a few seconds ago and now you're cursing that I ruined your high.

[tower912]

It is some amazing stuff.     

[Hards Alumni]

Yeah alcohol can obviously have its affects as well.

But it's nowhere near as lethal as most drugs.

You hear about things like drug ODs all the time. Alcohol..not so much.

You may want to check the stats on that one,  chief.

[brewcity77]

Narcan is quickly becoming a double-edged sword, especially now that it is being distributed to opiate abusers. We've seen more users effectively working in teams, getting high together and if someone happens to OD, one of the others pushes Narcan to bring them back. I haven't seen it personally, but I've also heard of overdose victims found with a sign on their chest taped to a vial of intranasal Narcan saying "If found dead, put this in my nose and push". The believe that Narcan will save everyone from overdoses has users chasing even bigger highs than in the past.

Don't get me wrong, Narcan is an incredible drug, but while making it more available will certainly save lives, it will also have some very dangerous consequences.

This is all such scary stuff. When we were in high school it was beer and weed. Nowadays, kids are chasing much more dangerous highs.

I think there is merit to your thinking about the pharmaceutical emphasis of both primary and specialist care in America. It is so much easier to treat the symptoms of conditions through chemistry than to engage in more elemental therapeutic regimens that are costlier and more problematic. (Much of this has to do with our payor system, as well.)

You and Tower see the impact of this crisis on a more personal, and in some ways, more visceral level. I have been in refugee camps, supported those assisting the victims of human trafficking, and seen the collateral casualties of war. I had the benefit of distance whereas responders have to pick up the pieces. From my experiences, the most haunting images are the young.

I give you guys all the credit in the world. Picking up those pieces must put little tears in one's soul.     

It's all about picking your battles, I'm sure you understand that. You help who you can and try to provide actual guidance where you can, but you need to be able to disconnect yourself sometimes because quite a few people are beyond saving and you definitely don't want to take that emotional baggage home with you after work.

Agreed on the payor system being part of the problem. It's easier to medicate than it is to rehabilitate, and usually more lucrative. There are a lot of health care reforms going through that are designed to force health care providers to actually show their treatments are getting results in order to get paid. I'm not convinced yet it will work, though; I'm definitely from the "believe it when I see it" camp in that regard.

And definitely agree on the young.

[tower912]

We have discussed the whole 'narcan as enabler' scenario within our department and with the ambulance companies we work with, but as yet, it hasn't happened around here.   We see a lot of human misery, as we are rarely called when a citizen is having a GOOD day.    By and large, I hold onto the person until my report is done, and then I metaphorically toss them and their problem into the trash, unless there is a lesson to be learned from the call.     Naturally, there are calls that are not so easily shaken off, and yes, a disproportionately large number of those involve children.     Some people, it hardens.   I find that I have a lower tolerance for weak sauce but a higher level of compassion for those genuinely in need.   And I have come to appreciate the razor's edge between getting by and failing for so many people.    So I rarely judge.     "There, but for the grace of God"......     

[Dr. Blackheart]

A Google car could have averted these problems, non è?

[mileskishnish72]

Doesn't sound like NN is on an upward spiral. What's in the article isn't any worse than what a lot of kids that age do, but he is in the process of pissing away a golden opportunity and doing so may haunt him for the rest of his life. Here's hoping he finds the help he needs to work things out whether or not, as was mentioned above, hoops is to be a part of it.

[wadesworld]

Doesn't sound like NN is on an upward spiral. What's in the article isn't any worse than what a lot of kids that age do, but he is in the process of pissing away a golden opportunity and doing so may haunt him for the rest of his life. Here's hoping he finds the help he needs to work things out whether or not, as was mentioned above, hoops is to be a part of it.

There aren't a lot of kids who get felony charges of endangering safety, get a DUI at the age of 18, and are facing criminal destruction of property.

[warriorchick]

There aren't a lot of kids who get felony charges of endangering safety, get a DUI at the age of 18, and are facing criminal destruction of property.

Oh, come on now, it's just kids being kids.

[Silkk the Shaka]

There aren't a lot of kids who get felony charges of endangering safety, get a DUI at the age of 18, and are facing criminal destruction of property.

I'll go ahead and say I easily could have faced any of those charges at that age, I just wasn't caught. And when I was caught, I was able to talk my way out of things with the police. It was stupid behavior, it was reckless behavior, and it makes me cringe to think back on it.

I managed to turn out okay.

[PVMagic]

Opiates are a different animal than alcohol, certainly more addicting, and many do get started with "legitimate" prescriptions.  Down here in Kentucky we've recently (last several years) passed strict(er) laws regarding the prescribing of narcotic pain meds. One of the consequences has been an increase in heroin use (and deaths) as prescription opiates have become harder to come by... and often you'd be surprised at who is using.

Narcan is impressive to see in action (personally, I support the distribution of the auto-injectors, but that's a whole other debate).

[wadesworld]

I'll go ahead and say I easily could have faced any of those charges at that age, I just wasn't caught. And when I was caught, I was able to talk my way out of things with the police. It was stupid behavior, it was reckless behavior, and it makes me cringe to think back on it.

I managed to turn out okay.

It takes a lot to face a felony charge of endangering safety.  And I'm sure there are kids who get behind the wheel after having a few drinks, but how many get noticed by police and refuse to perform a breathalyzer test?

Criminal destruction of property probably takes quite a bit of damage as well, but I suppose that's the closest thing to a "normal drunk college" thing to do.

[brewcity77]

I sincerely hope that Noskowiak is able to get the help he needs. The longer I watch his story unfold the more it seems like he just doesn't have a lot of people in his life really looking out for him and his best interest. Plenty of people that are interested in his ability on the basketball court, but not on Nick himself. He's certainly made mistakes which led first to Marquette distancing themselves and seemingly now Prohm and ISU doing the same. But at the end of the day, he needs someone there to stand by him and make sure he gets the help he needs.

[drewm88]

Where is the talk of opiates and "harder" drugs coming from? I didn't see anything in that link. Was there something earlier or are people speculating?

I'm wondering this as well.

[jsglow]

If the insinuations here are accurate, NN deserves our sympathy not our insults.

Let us pray that keefe's info isn't accurate.  And if it tragically is, let us pray even harder. 

[jsglow]

Tower and brew.  Both of you seem very knowledgeable.  Might I ask your professions without asking you to reveal too much?  Thanks guys.