Special to The Laker/Lutz News

By Kyle LoJacono

 

Ryan Wegener is one of many who is addicted to the latest trend in drug use — prescription pain pills.

Nationally in 2008, 12.2 percent of all crimes committed were related to prescription abuse, an all-time high, and 1,150 people in Pasco, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties died last year from overdosing on the medications, a state record.

Ryan, of Land O’ Lakes, became addicted to prescription drugs around age 19 while doing construction work.

“I was really sore the first two weeks and I got with a couple guys who were a little older,” Ryan said. “I said, ‘Man my back is really killing me,’ and they were like you know we got something to take care of that and the drugs are legal too. I said, ‘What’ve you got?’”

Ryan was given several pills of Rocicet, commonly called Roxys, a painkiller that contains acetaminophen and Ocycodone.

“So I took it,” Ryan said. He then added, “After a couple weeks of every other day taking them, my back wasn’t hurting anymore. I didn’t need the pills to go to work, but I still wanted it.”

Ryan said after a while, one pill wouldn’t satisfy the addiction. He needed two or three to subside his craving for the medication. As his addiction grew he started injecting the pills, a common practice for hardcore users to get a stronger high faster.

Ryan would go on benders where he would use 100-200 pills in three or four days and fall out of contact with his family. Parents Chris and Diane saw changes in his behavior but never suspected he was an addict.

“It was humiliating,” Diane said. “What did I do wrong?”

Chris added, “We weren’t in denial in that he dabbled in drugs or tried alcohol, but to find out that he was addicted to drugs — that was devastating. When he said he had an addiction, I think that kind of blew us away.”

The addiction drove off Ryan’s childhood friends.

“It hurt, and I slowly started moving on to a new crowd of friends,” Ryan said. “These were the friends that you could pass out with your mouth open drooling out with your eyes closed scratching yourself, because that’s what you did because you have real bad itches. Those were the friends you wanted to be around, because they had no problem with you being high.”

His abuse also cost him his girlfriend.

“She was the best,” Ryan said. “I could look her in the eyes every day, and she would look me in the eyes and say ‘You are high. I can tell you are high.’ I’d lie and say ‘No I’m not,’ but she knew how I was. We’d been together for five years. She tried so hard to get me off of these pills.

“I couldn’t go through the withdrawals,” Ryan continued. “I did one week with her without taking a pill, and I seriously almost died. Then I got back on it, because I couldn’t take it anymore. Sooner or later she caught back on and it came down to either the addiction or her. I wasn’t physically strong enough to say I want to be with you. I’m going to get off of this. I ended up throwing away the best thing that I had for an addiction.”

A price to pay

Ryan was always looking for ways to pay for his drug problem.

“Constantly trying to find somebody to steal from; to con out of money to get some way to get your high,” Ryan said. He then added, “Going in your mom’s purse taking $20-$30; going in your dad’s wallet taking $20-$30 and then going in your girlfriend’s purse, just anyone’s purse or wallet that’s just laying around and taking when no one is around.”

He even stole from drug dealers.

“If you rip off the right drug dealer you can get away with it, but if you rip off the wrong drug dealer you make sure you hide,” Ryan said. “You make sure you’re not in contact with anyone that knows that person because those people are serious about $800, $1,000 that they made off these pills. If you go and take it away like that, they have no problem telling someone they will give them 50 pills to go knock this kid off.”

Diane said dealers would come to her door looking for Ryan. Despite the risk of overdosing and from drug dealers looking for him, Ryan said there was little fear of dying.

“When you’re doing it, it doesn’t really scare you because you’re high at the time,” Ryan said.

An awakening

Six deaths finally woke up Ryan.

He had two friends who overdosed and died two days apart from each other, and another friend and his son also died a few months later.

Another of his friends and his older brother died a few months apart, and it was at the second funeral where Ryan saw how the abuse can devastate a family.

“I saw one of my friend’s mother and father crying at his funeral,” Ryan said. “They couldn’t stop crying, and I knew the people pretty well. Just to see how bad his mother was hurt. Those were her only two kids, and they both ODed within three months of each other.

“I just wanted to find some way to get away from that,” Ryan continued. “If I didn’t cut this (stuff) out, my parents were going to walk into the bathroom and find me ice cold and not breathing with a spoon, a lighter and a needle hanging out of my arm.”

Ryan told his parents on Christmas 2010 he was addicted to prescription drugs and wanted to quit. The Wegeners decided to make a documentary, called “Obsessed,” to assist other families struggling with prescription abuse and also to help Ryan get well.

The film helped Ryan for a short time, but he suffered a relapse three weeks after its filming. He has relapsed three times since.

“It was the last thing that I really wanted to do,” Ryan said. “It definitely wasn’t the best option. To be honest with you, I don’t know why I returned to it. It was really something stupid that happened, but I just thought to myself if no one is going to believe that I’m sober then I might as well not be sober.

“That’s what is so scary about this, is there are a thousand different triggers that can make you to the point where this is why I choose to go get high again,” Ryan said. “That’s exactly what a relapse is. Mine was just not having trust.”

Sober again

Ryan, now 22, has been sober for six months. He spent three months in a court-ordered rehab program, and has spent the last three pulling his life together.

“It’s a long-term disease, and I’m definitely not out of the woods yet with this,” Ryan said. “I’m grateful to be as far as I am, but I would definitely say that this is a lifelong disease that I have got caught up in. A lifelong addiction I got caught up in, because I couldn’t go around my old friends right now. If I saw them partying and doing some pills I could not tell you definitely I would not do them. … A relapse could happen any day.”

“Obsessed” includes interviews with Jose and Carolyn Aviles, who lost their son to a prescription drug overdose, as well as Ryan’s struggles with his addition. It also offers advice for those looking for help.

The Wegeners’ goal is to have the documentary shown in local high and middle schools to help steer students clear of prescription drugs.

“If I can save one life, that’s what it’s all about,” Diane said.

 

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Drug addiction signs, sources and solutions

David Holtz is a drug rehabilitation counselor who has seen a big shift in substance abuse during the last decade.

Years ago, the majority of deaths from drug use were caused by either cocaine or heroin, but today it’s legal prescription pills that have risen to the top. Holtz said the problem is how addictive opiate painkillers are.

“From the 17 year old in high school to the 83-year-old grandmother who’s got her hip replaced,” Holtz said. “This is what we’re seeing in our rehabs today. We’re seeing that everyone who starts this drug in a short period of time becomes physically addicted and then can’t get off the drug.”

Holtz said many of the people he has worked with mistakenly think the prescription pills are safer than street drugs because they are a “pure form” that won’t hurt them.

“However, there are just as many deaths from Oxycontin as from heroin,” Holtz said. “The fact is if you do too much, you’re going to die.”

Holtz said the other problem is doctors overprescribing the medications to people who don’t need them at all. He said this “pill pushing” becomes so extreme that pharmacies will open near such doctors to boost profits.

“I actually had a talk with my doctor, my own personal doctor, and he went into how it was the greatest (thing) since sliced bread,” Holtz said. “I mean this was my own doctor; my doctor telling me it’s a wonder drug, and I started thinking no wonder if the doctors all believe this.”

Holtz said that 12.2 percent of all arrests during 2008 in the United States were prescription drug related, an all-time high.

The Tampa Bay area has become one of the epicenters for the drug abuse problems in the country. The Florida Medical Examiners Commission’s statistics show that of the 2,710 deaths attributed to prescription drug abuse last year, 1,150 were from people in Pasco, Hillsborough or Pinellas counties.

Joe Stimac, a corporal with the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office, said he has seen many people’s lives ruined by prescription drug use. He told a story about a 15-year-old kid he knew who was “by all measures a good young man.” Four years later he got a call from someone about her 19-year-old grandson who had stolen everything.

“He’d robbed her blind, and it was the same kid,” Stimac said.

The kid had already been thrown out of his parents’ house for stealing and was eventually arrested for stealing from his girlfriend.

Holtz said there is no one sure way to get off prescription drugs.

“Different types of treatment programs work for different people for different reasons,” Holtz said. “So it’s important that you seek out professional advice when finding a treatment center.”

Holtz said there are many ways to treat the addiction, but the most important step is getting help as fast as possible. He said in most cases people should call their local law enforcement agency and report the abuse. From their people can get court-ordered rehabilitation, which is usually more successful than individuals trying to kick the addiction on their own.

 

Symptoms of drug abuse

–Weight loss

–Skin problems

–Money problems

–Constantly in emergency situations

By Eugenio Torrens

It may not have the name recognition of Busch Gardens or the authenticity of a Serengeti tour in the heart of Africa, but Giraffe Ranch in Dade City offers a hybrid of the two.

Run by Lex Salisbury and his wife Elena Sheppa, Giraffe Ranch is situated on a 47-acre ranch that offers a glimpse of quite a few animals in a more natural setting than what a zoo can offer.

“My wife and I used to do all this ourselves until we started doing tours, and then we needed some help,” Salisbury said. “I’ve been working with animals for a long time, so it’s sort of been my vocation and avocation for a long time.”
Salisbury was the president at Lowry Park Zoo before he resigned in December 2008 because of a city audit that suggested he had used the zoo for personal gain.

“I was completely exonerated,” Salisbury said. “They didn’t want me there any longer, so I resigned. That was all resolved, and that’s in the past.”

Salisbury and Sheppa live on the property and used to offer friends and colleagues a peek at how they lived with a menagerie.

“It’s like a little piece of Africa, when I wake up in the morning and look out and I see animals in the vista,” Salisbury said.

Visitors take about a 90-minute to two-hour tour inside sawed off, revamped trucks with canopy roofing designed to replicate the vehicles used in safaris. It’s all open air, which means more direct access to the animals. Usually, tours are limited to 20 people with one vehicle.

On this particular tour, there were three vehicles, one driven by Salisbury, one by Sheppa and the third by Jack West, a freshman at USF who logged more than 1,000 hours during the summer as an intern.

Throughout the tour, the vehicles canvass the area with each driver doubling as a guide and stopping to explain and interact with the animals, as well as giving guests a chance to feed animals.

“I thought it was marvelous,” said Michele Starcher, who was with the Sensational Seniors tour group. “They’re very educated. They know what they’re talking about. I like little animals. If I get an opportunity to come to something like this, I will.”

Starcher said she saw the tours as an educational opportunity for kids as a school outing.

The positive reaction seems to be echoed by the majority of visitors. Salisbury said there was a 94 percent intent-to-return rate.

“(Visitors) don’t want what man has done to nature, they want to see what nature has to offer man,” Sheppa said. She remarked how a woman in the tour wanted to go to Morocco but knew she was never going there and she just really wanted to ride a camel.

“People want to touch stuff.” Sheppa said. “When you connect with another animal, there’s something special about that, especially if it feels like it’s special to you.”

Some animals come on loan from partnerships Giraffe Ranch has with other zoos, such as the San Diego Wild Animal Park. Other animals are bred and raised on the ranch from birth, such as the baby giraffe visitors got to see.

The baby was a bit timid unlike the adult giraffes that sought food from eager-to-feed guests.

“We want to give people as non an artificial experience with these animals in as intimate a way as we possibly can offer, but ultimately in a safe way,” Sheppa said. “We don’t want it to be scripted. We want a little bit of the unexpected. We want people to be a little anxious, because that keeps them attentive.”

The zebras on Giraffe Ranch were particularly attention grabbing. Salisbury spread feed around the vehicle to offer guests a close-up look at the striped creatures.

“The irony is my dogs probably take up more of my time, or are more labor-intensive than this herd of zebra are,” Sheppa said.

Animals for Giraffe Ranch are picked have to meet certain criteria, including how well they deal with the Florida heat and environment; animals have to meet nutritional standards; and many of the animals chosen also are herd animals in order to provide as natural an environment as possible.

One exception to these rules was the scimitar oryx, which is extinct in the wild but is bred and kept in captivity as a means of preserving the species.

After guests have seen the vast array of animals including but not limited to zebras, fainting goats, ostriches, warthogs and a pair of pygmy hippos, they come back to the starting spot to visit the tiny gift shop.

Camel rides are available at the end of the tour for an additional cost. Guests may also tour the property on camelback. Salisbury even offers newly hatched ostrich eggs for a fee.

“I’ve been to a lot of places that I never knew existed, and this is one of those,” said Bill Voliva, a tour bus driver who drove the Sensational Seniors to Giraffe Ranch and went along on the tour. “It’s a little hidden gem. The word needs to get out more for folks to come see this, because it was really nice.”

Tours are $59.99 for adults, while children ages 2-11 get in for $49.99. Children 2 and under get in for free. Giraffe Ranch is located at 38650 Mickler Road in Dade City.

For more ticket prices or further information, call Giraffe Ranch at (813) 482-3400 or visit www.girafferanch.com.

By B.C. Manion

They’ve been gathering, once a year for 25 years, to celebrate their ties to this community called Lutz.

They bring their covered dishes and pay a small price of admission to join in fellowship at the annual pioneer picnic, an event which brings together people who have deep roots in Lutz and Land O’ Lakes.

The gatherings are always special because they offer a chance to relax, reminisce and recall those simpler times in a community where houses have replaced orange groves, and cars zoom down a multi-lane highway on what was once a dirt road where wagons rolled.

This year’s event is slated for Oct. 8 at the red brick Historic Lutz School, at the northeast corner of US 41 and Fourth Avenue. The event will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Those joining the party are asked to bring two covered dishes. Lunch tickets will be $5 each for adults and $1 for children ages 8-12.

This year one of the speakers will be Susan MacManus, a political science professor at the University of South Florida. She and her mother, the late Elizabeth Riegler MacManus co-authored “Citrus, Sawmills, Critters & Crackers: Life in Early Lutz and Central Pasco County.” An update of the book is due out soon.

Elizabeth Riegler MacManus was the original founder of the annual Pioneer Descendants’ gathering.

Jim Dennison, a local historian and geneologist also will be on hand and many others are expected to share stories and music at the event.

The two main organizers for the potluck are Cliff Denison and Annie Carlton Fernandez.

It’s a get-together they both thoroughly enjoy.

Like many Lutz residents, Denison has a deep connection with the community and its people.

“It really is a beautiful place,” he said. “The old-timers are just tremendous people. There is a great camaraderie, and love, I would say.”

Fernandez, who was born at her grandmother’s house in Lutz, said the older generations are trying to encourage greater participation by younger family members.

“We’re trying to keep the tradition alive,” she said.

For more information about the event, call Fernandez at (813) 784-4471.

By B.C. Manion

 

Amy Jordan, a science teacher in the Upper Division at Academy at the Lakes, has a lengthy list of accomplishments.

But for this teacher the goal of a true education goes beyond achievement – it aims to prepare students for what they will encounter after they leave her classroom.

One of the hardest lessons, she said, is to learn how to deal with failure.

That’s particularly challenging for high-achieving students, she said.

“It’s really hard for those kids.  It’s very hard for them not to be looking for the right answer.

“Those kids, in particular, need to have a few big failures in their life. The younger, the better. It’s a little bit harder when you have a family and you have a big failure in your life.

“If failures happen earlier, then it’s easier to get through them and realize they’re not such a catastrophe,” she said.

“In science, we fail all of the time. Most of our experiments don’t work.”

What’s important, she said, is “how do you get up from that – what do you do? What do you learn from that failure? What do you learn about yourself? That it wasn’t the end of the world. Most people who do anything in life have failed,” she said.

Jordan also promotes the notion that creativity and innovation can be much more important than being at the top of the class.

For instance, a student who comes up with a big idea can hire someone to do the math if that’s not one of his strong suits, she said.

Jordan didn’t set out to become a teacher, but she believes that teaching is part of her DNA.

“I heard somebody describe it as becoming part of the priesthood,” she said.

“I loved researching and I loved writing, but what I really enjoyed was teaching. All through my Ph.D., I supervised undergraduate research projects. I went and worked at a local school.”

That was when she discovered she could help students who want to pursue Ph.D.s.

“It’s very difficult to start at the low level where students come in. Of course, they’re at the low level because they haven’t been educated yet. But people at the really high level have a really hard time bridging that gap, because you forget what it’s like to know nothing.”

Jordan won the Derek Bok Certificate for Distinguished Teaching Award at Harvard for her efforts.

It was based on undergraduates ranking her teaching. “I was ranked in the top 5 percent of teachers at Harvard. It was a surprise to me.”

Student Alex Stark, who has taken Biology 1 and AP Biology, currently serves as Jordan’s assistant for AP Chemistry.

Stark praises Jordan’s ability to adapt her teaching style to suit different students.

“She is aware of what they do or do not know, how much work they are willing to do, what methods of teaching relate to them best, and what their motives are in being her students.

“She is honest and likes to explain her thought processes thoroughly,” Stark noted in an email response to a series of questions. “I have learned almost as much about teaching from her as I have about biology.”

Jordan credits her background for contributing to her teaching abilities.

“I like that I’ve had a lot of experiences,” Jordan said. She’s been a competitive fighter in the martial arts, has written test questions for the Educational Testing Service, has been an observer on accreditation teams, is a writer, has a family and has a pet.

“It’s good to have a teacher in the classroom that’s done a lot of things because they (students) can sort of see themselves in some of those roles,” Jordan said.

“They first need to be able to relate to you on some level.”

Jordan said she teaches students how to approach a professor if a problem arises.

“Being intellectual and sitting at a table and answering questions is not going to cut it.”

She also gears her tests to prepare students for what they might face in college.

“I make sure my testing is consistent with what they might see in college. In the sciences, testing can be brutal.”

Jordan believes students need to develop logical skills and have a basic knowledge of science, whether or not they plan to pursue a career in science.

“The world is becoming so much more technical,” she said.

One of her classes, Advanced Scientific Research, allows students to select an area of interest and delve deeply into it.

“Normally, they have their last two periods in that class and they go to USF and do research.

“They take notes on everything that is said, because again, it’s very hard for someone who is in the field to put themselves back in the shoes of the students,” Jordan said. “That’s what I do for them. I translate what it means.”

Jordan recently was honored by the Pasco County School Board for promoting high-level science experiences for high school students.

Her students have worked with the Southwest Florida Water Management District on aquifer recharge and with USF professors on a variety of projects including making nanofilms, relating nutrition to diet through isotope analysis, and plotting biochemical pathways related to hearing loss.

Her students have earned grants to support their research, given poster talks at professional meetings, and won numerous science fair awards.

Last year, one of her students – Sophia Sokolowski – won two awards at the 2011 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Los Angeles. Sokolowski’s project, “Audio Perception: Plotting the Pathway of the BK Channel” competed against the top 1,500 projects from around the world this year.

After winning her international honors, Sokolowski, who is now a senior, said much of her success was due to Jordan’s willingness to translate complicated scientific concepts and terms into language that the high schooler could understand.

Jordan, who has been at Academy at the Lakes since 2006, said she enjoys teaching at the independent private school because she is given a great deal of freedom. There are no artificial boundaries, she said.

“At first, I would have to make a proposal and justify it,” she said. Now, when she makes a proposal, the main question is whether she thinks she can do it, Jordan said.

If she says that she can, “they just let me do it,” Jordan said.

On one hand, she can appeal to student interest, she said. On the other, she must double-check herself to be sure she’s on the right path.

Jordan said the United States must improve in preparing its future scientists.

“We’ve got to produce somehow. You can’t be the most expensive country in the world and be a service economy. Those two things don’t add up.”

 

In search of excellence

We are looking for people for people of all walks of life who enrich our community through their commitment to excellence.

In this case, we profiled a teacher, but the people we would like to showcase can work in any field. If you know someone who routinely goes beyond the call of duty, who helps make life better for others, please send your suggestions to or call B.C. Manion at (813) 909-2800.

By Kyle LoJacono

 

Frequent drivers of the Suncoast Parkway and Veterans Expressway will need some extra quarters this time next year.

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) will increase the fee by 25 cents at all stops on the two highways, as well as many other toll roadways throughout the state, beginning June 30.

Turnpike spokeswoman Christa Deason said the increase was part of a law signed by the state Legislature in 2007 to increase revenue for the department for capital improvement projects.

“The state gave us up to five years to start with the higher rates,” Deason said. “We delayed the increase as long as possible because of the economy, but now we are under the gun.”

Deason said SunPass customers will not be affected by the rate hike on any of the mainline plazas and off ramps on the Suncoast in Pasco north to where the parkway originates in Hernando County. They will also pay the same amount while using exits on the Veterans as they do now but will need to shell out the extra quarter when driving through the Sugarwood Plaza in Odessa and the Anderson Plaza in Tampa.

FDOT statistics from 2010 show that 45,000 and 54,400 vehicles travel the Sugarwood and Anderson plazas each day, respectively.

Deason said FDOT expects to generate $1.8 billion in revenue from 2012-16 because of the increase, which will let the department pay for the future widening of the Veterans by one lane in each direction.

“Everyone knows it needs to be widened, and we’ve been getting public input on the best way to do that,” Deason said. “Traffic flow is poor during rush hour. Without this increase, we might have to wait a few more years to do anything about it.”

The widening of the Veterans is also part of the road planning for Hillsborough County. Pedro Parra, Hillsborough Planning Commission principal planner, said his department is working under the idea that the expressway will be widened within the next 10 years.

“We are right now looking at ways to make Gunn Highway safer,” Parra said. “We’re doing that with the understanding that the Veterans will be wider, so it is affecting everything we are doing in the planning commission.”

The Veterans opened in 1994, while the Suncoast was completed in 2001. Deason said neither roadway has seen a toll rate increase since they were established.

For more information on the toll increase, visit floridasturnpike.com/index.cfm or call the FDOT’s turnpike office at (800) 749-7453. For general information on FDOT, visit www.dot.state.fl.us.