Mom Launches Campaign Alerting Pasco County Parents About the Increase in the Use of LSD-like Drugs in the Tampa Bay Area
Land O’ Lakes, FL (PRWEB) May 23, 2014 -- When a Pasco County Mom learned that some kids in the Bay area as young as 12 years old were experimenting with LSD and Acid-like drugs, she was stunned, but that shock soon turned to anger. That’s when she asked her colleagues at Print & Radio (http://www.PrintAndRadio.com) to help her get the word out about the threat.
“When I learned about the problem, I called the school,” said the Mom, Print & Radio’s Senior Media Administrative Coordinator. “I was informed they had expelled three kids already for being caught with Acid on school grounds—with a few more on their list of being watched. I was shocked this information was never given to me as a parent.”
The potential danger was made clear last year when a 20-year-old University of South Florida student fell to his death at an apartment complex in Tampa. According to the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner, the student had ingested a designer drug dubbed “25i.”
ABC Action News brought attention to the tragedy: “Spring Hill mother warning parents of dangerous designer drug, 25i, that led to son's death in Tampa,” which is available at http://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-tampa/spring-hill-mother-warns-parents-of-dangerous-designer-drug-25i-that-led-to-sons-death-in-tampa.
But the problem isn’t unique to the Bay area.
In mid-April, three girls were hospitalized in Virginia, according to CBSnews.com: “The girls, ages 13 to 18 years old, were found to have taken an LSD-like designer drug that goes by the names 25i, Nbomb or Smiles,” the news outlet said. Details are at http://www.cbsnews.com/news/lsd-like-drug-25i-lands-virginia-teens-in-the-hospital.
The Drug Enforcement Administration has classified 25i as a Schedule I narcotic, which is defined as a drug “with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Schedule I drugs are the most dangerous drugs of all the drug schedules with potentially severe psychological or physical dependence.” See DEA’s warning at http://www.justice.gov/dea/divisions/hq/2013/hq111513.shtml
According to NBCchicago.com, Michigan City (Indiana) Police recently sent out a community alert warning about 25i, describing it as “extremely potent synthetic substance that acts as a hallucinogen and is similar to LSD and ecstasy.” The drug has been linked to 19 deaths of people aged 15-29. More about the episode is at http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Michigan-City-Police-Warn-of-New-LSD-Like-Drug-256279951.html
Last fall, Newser.com reported a California case in which a 16-year-old, described as having "superhuman strength," was covered in blood and reportedly on LSD. Authorities said paramedics were responding to reports of a seizure; upon arrival, they were attacked. That article is at http://www.newser.com/story/175123/teenage-lsd-party-ends-really-really-badly.html
Such incidents prompted a Land O’ Lakes Mom to caution parents that this drug problem isn’t limited to a geographic location, a demographic category or even an economic level.
“Once I started doing a little digging of my own on the social sites, I came to see tons and tons of kids talking about Acid and smoking weed like it was OK,” she said. “I even told a few parents, ‘Check your kid’s social sites.’ When they didn’t take action, it really upset me.”
She added that it appears Twitter seems to be biggest outlet for kids to post drug-related material they don’t want adults to see. For that reason, she suggests parents periodically check what sites their children are visiting.
“I started looking on the Internet trying to find useful information about the dangers of Acid (LSD) to share with my child,“ she said. “Well that was a joke, I found sites and videos about how to have a ‘Good Trip’ instead of a ‘Bad Trip’.”
She said that, as a parent, she’s upset she wasn’t more aware of the problem.
“I’m even more upset that we are not being notified of what is going on in the schools, and kids are being caught with these drugs at school,” she added. “I want parents to be more aware of this. Let’s get the word out: Kids are taking Acid at a very young age, with very little knowledge of what it can really do.”
For that reason, Print & Radio (http://www.PrintAndRadio.com) is helping alert Pasco County parents about the dangers of LSD and other copycat designer drugs that pose a threat to young people in the Tampa Bay area.
ABOUT: Print & Radio provides low-cost print, radio and TV advertising. The company is based in Tampa and uses media testing processes and specific demographic marketing to drive traffic so clients can productively drive profits. For more information, call (877) 211-7566.
Melissa Springstead -, Print & Radio, http://www.printandradio.com, +1 813-920-0197, [email protected]
Share this article