Student Seeks to Stop Staten Island's Prescription Pill Problem

By Harrison Golden

When Touro College pharmacy student Krina Patel learned that Staten Island currently sits at the center of the city’s prescription pill abuse epidemic, she decided to teach students across the borough about the dangers of medicine.

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Starting later this spring, students and professors from Touro, St. John's, and Long Island University will begin visiting six high schools across Staten Island, including Susan Wagner, Notre Dame, Michael Petrides, Moore Catholic, Curtis, and Tottenville.

"Just because someone gets a drug from a bathroom cabinet instead of a shady alleyway does not mean that they are in less danger,” said Patel, 26, in an email. “Young people, most importantly, must learn that using prescription drugs not prescribed to them can cause unintended side effects and a great deal of harm.”

A Staten Islander dies of a prescription drug overdose about every 13 days, more than in any borough citywide, according to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. As recently as 2008, roughly 11 percent of Staten Island’s middle and high school students admitted to abusing prescription drugs.

Patel conceived the program while interning at Senator Charles Schumer's office last year. Hoping to combine her knowledge of pharmaceuticals with her fellow office colleagues, she told staffers, including Schumer himself.

"We studied it and thought it was a good idea," Schumer said at a press conference outside St. John's University last week. "When it comes to preventing prescription drug abuse among teenagers, education is absolutely essential."

According to Assemblyman Michael Cusick, kids often hunt through their parents' medicine cabinets for oxycodone, vicodin and other prescribed substances before sharing them at so-called “pill parties.”

“This kind of drug abuse is not regulated as well as it should be,” added Cusick. “But Ms. Patel’s program has a lot of great ideas. I would like to see it resonate with Staten Islanders.”

Pharmacy owners like Robert Annicharico of Delco Drugs, located in Eltingville, have recently begun cracking down on suspected cases of prescription abuse. His pharmacy requires patients to wait 24 hours to fill prescriptions. In addition, those requesting narcotic painkillers and other controlled medications must walk in with a photo ID.

“Drug abuse has been an issue here for as long as I can remember,” said Annicharico. “Communities – pharmacies, schools, governments – all need to take responsibility and set the record straight about its negative effects.”

While her program is still in the developing stages, Patel hopes to expand its influence to even more schools across Staten Island.

“Even if my program does not directly move into more of these places,” she added, “I would love to see my efforts force people to wake up and understand the power of prescription drugs.”