Kids in Lincoln County are using and selling prescription drugs they steal from their parents' and grandparents' medicine cabinets, a Lincoln County sheriff's deputy told a Boothbay Harbor audience March 5.

“It's crazy what goes on, but unfortunately it's the real deal,” Deputy Mark Bridgham said.

Faced with easy access, peer pressure and websites that encourage substance abuse, young people don't realize the safety risks they're taking when they take drugs intended to treat someone else's medical conditions, Bridgham said.

Prescription drugs have replaced marijuana and LSD as the so-called drug of choice for young people to abuse, he said.

Bridgham, who also serves as the school resource officer at Lincoln Academy, is 96.3 percent accurate in recognizing when someone is impaired by substances.

Approximately 20 people, including several educators, turned out at the Boothbay Region YMCA for the first in a series of classes about spotting the signs of possible substance abuse.

Depending on the drug or drugs taken, signs can include overly large or extremely small pupils. The person may mumble and be clumsy, and may not be able to handle multiple instructions or follow the tip of a moving finger with his eyes. A user's pulse, blood pressure and body temperature may be affected.

However, medical issues such as diabetes, brain disorders and head injuries can mimic drug impairment, Bridgham said.

Over time, other signs can appear, such as weight loss, a dropping grade point average, a change in friends and withdrawal from family.

But Bridgham cautioned again that some behavioral changes could have other explanations, such as a recent death in the family.

He advised against accusing a child of drug abuse. Instead, he recommended the concerned adult speak with a guidance counselor or other professional about the behaviors and physical signs the child is showing.

Bridgham also discussed the dangers parents create for their own children and other people's if they host parties where underage drinking occurs.

“Rather than be a parent, they want to be friends to their children,” he said.

“There's going to be a tragedy. Lincoln County is going to feel the effects of the loss of a student,” Bridgham said. “Then all H-E-double hockey sticks is going to break loose.” People will say the teachers or the police didn't do enough to prevent that loss, he said.

In 2011, 95 percent of juvenile arrests in Maine were for liquor violations, the deputy said.

At times in the talk, Bridgham provided comic relief from the serious subject matter. When he cited double vision as a possible sign of substance-impairment, he said: “No one wants to see two of Bridgham.”

The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office is partnering with Healthy Lincoln County to offer the free, “Is My Kid High” series. Anyone interested is welcome to attend any of the remaining sessions, Thursdays, March 14 and 21 at the Waldoboro Fire Department conference room; Tuesday, March 19, at the Boothbay Region Y's Coastal Club Room; and Wednesday, March 20, at Lincoln Academy in Newcastle.

All the sessions run from 6-8:30 p.m. For more information, call 207-563-6123.

Susan Johns can be reached at 207-844-4633 or sjohns@wiscassetnewspaper.com.