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Recovery in the News
Former addict puts face on drug problem
Dan Lamothe
Owings Mills Times
September 20, 2007
At 15, Jared Hess began using prescribed painkillers in his battle with chronic kidney stone problems, and by 18 he was addicted to Oxycontin, an opiate-based painkiller he was given for his illness.
The Owings Mills resident, now in his fourth year of recovery and working as an advocate for Faces and Voices of Recovery, spoke at a news conference earlier this month in Washington D.C. to announce the start of National Alcohol Drug and Alcohol Recovery Month.
The newscast was also paired with the release of the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
Hess typifies what the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration found in the study: While illegal drug use has declined among the nation's adolescents, a growing number of people of all ages are abusing prescription drugs.
Overall, an estimated 7 million Americans abused prescription drugs in 2006, the report revealed. That's up 9.3 percent from an estimated 6.4 million in 2005.
In 2006, narcotic analgesics like oxycodone or painkillers such as Oxycontin and Vicodin, accounted for 75 percent of the abuse, according to the survey. SAMHSA surveys 67,500 people across demographics to reach their estimates.
Hess, a graduate of Owings Mills High School, was given Oxycontin during a month-long hospital stay and continued to use the painkillers against doctor's orders after he was discharged. He went into recovery January 2003, seeking help at an in-patient facility. He said the recovery process never really stops.
"I think about recovery every day, primarily because it's my job, but it's always with you," he said.
In his roll at Faces and Voices of Recovery, Hess fights the stigmas and discrimination that face people in recovery. As addiction rates continue to climb, Hess rallies for recovery rights. He now advocates for the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act, which would make addiction treatments covered by insurance.
Nina Hess has kept the memory of her son's addiction close. She, too, is a drug and alcohol education advocate with the creation of her own support group, PROUD, Parents Reaching Out to Understand Drugs. She and four friends created the group after attending the same women's support group.
Hess fits the demographic that public health officials said is one of their greatest causes of concern, the 18 to 25 age group.
Between 2002 and 2006, SAMHSA said the group's prescription drug misuse rate climbed 19 percent. Among the 12 to 17 age group, prescription drug abuse increased from 5.4 percent of those surveyed in 2002 to 6.4 percent in 2006.
But Peter Cohen, medical director for the Maryland Alcohol and Drug Abuse Administration, said it comes as no surprise that prescription drug abuse has increased, especially with adolescents.
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