“Were you high on drugs?” shouted a reporter as Kayla Gerdes, an 18-year-old accused of killing a 69-year-old retired doctor by driving a van into her Long Island house, walked into court.

“No,” she sobbed, “It was prescription drugs! It was all an accident! Please stop!”

Clear in the accused teen’s verbal defense of herself is that her actions are excusable because she was taking prescription – not street – drugs.

Of course, nobody knows if the oxycodone that police say Gerdes was taking was actually prescribed for her or if she was taking it illicitly.

That technicality, of course, does not matter to the family of Rebecca Twine-Wright, who died because she decided to mow her lawn on the same day Gerdes chose to get behind the wheel while allegedly high.

And, no matter the circumstances under which she allegedly took the oxycodone, that particular prescription pain medication comes with a clear warning that prohibits driving.
Whether she was taking a legal prescription written in her name or was popping pills pinched from the medicine cabinet of family or friends, nothing changes the fact that a woman lies dead because of these drugs.

Prescription drugs are not safer than street drugs simply because a doctor signs off on them.

In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control, by 2006, prescription opioid painkillers were involved in more overdose deaths than heroin and cocaine combined.

Oxycodone is a powerful painkiller synthesized from the opium derivative thebaine.
It resides in the same drug family as heroin and has many of the same addictive qualities, mood-altering effects and dangers as the “street” drug.

Used in specific instances of severe pain – such as in terminal cancer cases – oxycodone has its proper place in the medical world.

That does not make the drug “safe” for non-prescribed or not-as-directed use.

While effective under certain circumstances, oxycodone come with huge dangers when misused, including impairing one’s driving.

Opioid painkillers must be treated as potentially dangerous and used only under strict conditions. Too many of us are given a painkiller prescription for a legitimate reason – perhaps a dental surgery – and only use a portion of the prescribed pills.

Instead of destroying and getting rid of the unneeded portion, we save pills at the back of the medicine cabinet for possible use later on.

Leaving these drugs in your medicine cabinet is like inviting a heroin dealer into your home.

Instead of your child needing to take the scary step of obtaining illegal drugs on the street, he or she may simply decide to try what is already on hand.

Oxycodone potentially has the addictive power of heroin and once the household supply has been exhausted, painful withdrawal symptoms can lead to the newly-minted addicted seeking out the equivalent street drugs.

Keeping these medicines lying around unused for “a rainy day” simply opens the door to abuse and ignores how dangerous these products can be when used improperly.

Saying that they were “only prescription drugs” does not make Twine-Wright any less dead, and it does not justify Gerdes’ alleged actions.

Drugs are drugs, and we must be vigilant in their use and placement in our homes.

Daniel B. Kline works with The Governor’s Prevention Partnership, a not-for-profit partnership between state government and business leaders with a mission to keep Connecticut’s youth safe, successful and drug-free. He can be reached at dan@notastep.com.