Pharming Parties

     Pharming parties or “pharm parties” has been a term recently introduced to me.  Prior to pharmacy school I had no idea pharming parties even existed.  Some of you may be wondering what exactly a pharming party is.  I found an article titled “Youth Trade Drugs at Pharming Parties” on the drugfree.org website which did a good job defining a pharming party.  According to this site, “Prescribed Ritalin, OxyContin stolen from medicine cabinets at home, and other psychoactive prescription drugs are the stock in trade at so-called “pharming parties,” where young people trade medicines and often mix pills with alcohol to get high.” To be honest, when I first heard about the concept of a pharming party, I did not really believe these acts occurred on a regular basis.  I attended public schools and universities all through out my education, and have never experienced or even heard of the term pharming party.  For that reason, it was hard for me to believe that our youth are doing this today.  Unfortunately, I was proven wrong and became aware that this is in fact a growing problem in our society that is plaguing our youth and community members. 

     The Generation Rx program has heightened my knowledge and awareness of pharming parties, and the dangers associated with unnecessarily and irresponsibly taking prescription medications.  During a pharming party any unused or stolen prescription medications attained are thrown into a large bowl.  Guests then grab a handful of the medications and ingest them all at one time.  The scary part is sometimes guests are unaware of what exactly they have taken, perhaps unknowingly creating lethal combinations.  Reasons to why people take part in pharming parties include the fact that prescription medications are much easier to obtain compared to illegal drugs; and the myth that prescription medications, even when abused, are safer than illegal drugs. 

     So what can we do to combat this growing problem of pharming parties?  First we must raise awareness of this growing epidemic, then educate the community of the serious risks involved with these irresponsible actions.  Generation Rx is an organization that has been doing just that, but on a smaller scale by visiting local schools.  However, I feel that more awareness and education about pharming parties needs to be made.  For example, if content on pharming parties were incorporated into the D.A.R.E program curriculum, greater awareness will reach more students.

-http://www.drugfree.org/join-together/drugs/youth-trade-drugs-at-pharming