Behind the Orange Curtain

Have you heard about the orange curtain and the prescription drug problem among our youth?

A must-see video has been made about prescription drug use in Orange County, California.

Having grown up in southern California, I know Orange County, California well. It is located along the beautiful southern California coastline. After I left for college, my parents moved and lived in a small town in Orange County for 30 years.

My daughter attended her treatment program and lived there for seven years. It is a beautiful place with upscale homes, highly ranked schools, and a relaxed lifestyle, with all the ingredients for endless possibilities.

Yet, all is not well in Orange County. Hundreds of teens and young adults have passed away from prescription drugs. Hundreds more are using and addicted to heroin. This is an epidemic that has taken far too many lives.

If you think that prescription drug abuse is limited to Orange County, please remember,  it is an epidemic that has affected every city, county, and state across the country. It has no boundaries and does not discriminate.

More people die from prescription drug overdose than street drugs combined.  This is a national problem for all of us. We all need to be concerned because children are our future and we all have a stake in their destinies.

Please meet Natalie Costa, producer of the award-winning video, Behind the Orange Curtain. 

1. How did you become aware of the drug overdose problem in Orange County?

My daughter’s childhood friend, Mark Melkonian died in May of 2010 from a drug overdose.  The sound of my daughter on the phone that day is something I will never forget.  

Then we heard he died from an overdose of Opana.  I thought I was a mom-in-the-know but had never heard of Opana and had no idea that there was a prescription drug problem in Orange County, California.  

2. Why did you decide to make a film?

My thought was if I didn’t know, there were probably many more like me who had no clue about the abuse of prescription drugs, the addiction and the switch to heroin.  The fact that children as young as 10 were experimenting with alcohol and drugs – and that most drugs came right out of the home was horrifying.  

I own a performing arts school – The Performer’s Academy.  My teachers are film directors from Los Angeles.  I approached Brent Huff and asked him if he wanted to help me tell this story.  I put up the initial money and off we went.   

3. What overall message do you hope to share with teens and their families?

I want to remove the stigma that this only happens to poor people or to parents who did not raise their children correctly.  

Parents need to talk with their children at a young age.  They need to understand that this is a very real issue that is in every community -rich or poor, and that it could affect their child or someone they know.

This is an epidemic that crosses all socio-economic lines.  It doesn’t matter if you live on Park Avenue or the park bench.  If you start experimenting with prescription drugs (or if you genuinely are prescribed them and misuse them) you are headed down a road that very few make it back.   

4. What prescription drugs are abused the most?

The kids/teens are big with Xanax bars. The term is they are all “barred out”.  Then OxyContin is the next on the list and then Opana.  Adderall is widely abused.

It is shared on the school grounds and girls use it for weight loss.  In a very wealthy community in Texas it has been reported to me that mothers were using it with their daughters to maintain weight loss. I was working with a special agent from the DEA and he said that Adderall is just like meth.  You cannot just quit taking the drug – you have to be weaned off of it.   

They also use Somas, Klonopin, and Suboxone (the drug used to reduce their need to get high from opiates).

5. When should parents start talking to their children about the dangers of prescription drug abuse?

The age of experimentation is between the ages of 12-15 – so with a standard deviation of about 2.5 years – we say start talking at age ten.  If you don’t talk to your children someone else will.  

Fifth graders go to school with 6th and 7th graders. Children have siblings. It might not be your child going through your medicine cabinet – but it could be their friend who’s hanging out at your house.   

6. What is the Good Samaritan Law and why is it important?

The Good Samaritan Law allows medical services to be administered to those in distress from overdosing.  Here’s was the problem in California.  When someone was overdosing or blacking out due to drug use, their friends would panic and leave them alone, place a call to 911 and leave, or not call at all – many bodies were dumped at the beach, the side of the road, or just left in a bedroom and found dead later that day.  

Now when  911 is called – first responders will come and administer care and transport.  They don’t need to fear arrest or prosecution.  With opiate overdoses, when first responders come, they can give them Naloxone (Narcan) and it instantly stops the opiate overdose.  

7. What is the biggest misconception about prescription drug abuse?

Denial:  Users/experimenters/partiers think nothing will happen – they’re are fearless and infallible.  They do not realize how fast the addiction sets in and how hard it is to kick it once you are hooked.

Denial:  Parents are in denial that this could happen to their child.  It’s always someone else’s child.

Denial: Prescription drugs are safe because they come from a doctor.

Visit the website to find out more about The Orange Curtain.

Be sure to watch The Orange Curtain with your kids.