http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20101029/NEWS01/10290319/1006/Brevard+County+task+force+fights+drug+abuse BY DIONNE WALKER • FLORIDA TODAY • OCTOBER 29, 2010
 "Brendan Bailey, 16, of Rockledge fights back tears as he remembers his father, Robert Dale Bailey, who died in 2002 , during Thursday night's Narcotics Overdose Prevention & Education National candlelight vigil in Viera. (Craig Rubadoux, FLORIDA TODAY)"
The last night of Aaron Fuhlbruck's life was, according to mom Tami Heck, a joyful one.
The 17-year-old, who had a rough year that included a stint in a juvenile hall, had recently made encouraging personal decisions and even had a friend over visiting.
"He said to me, 'Mom, I'm so happy,' " said the Cape Canaveral mother who found the teen dead of an overdose of Xanax and oxycodone on Feb. 19, 2009.
She spoke to a small crowd Thursday at a vigil hosted by the Brevard County Sheriff's Office and a Florida group creating chapters across the state to fight drug abuse by teens.
The Narcotics Overdose Prevention and Education Task Force's vigil at the Brevard County Government Center was the first for Brevard, where the group hopes to start a chapter to give anti-drug presentations. So far it has seven chapters in Florida, including one in Orange County.
The group also has organized 49 vigils across the country this year. Its mission is to recall youths who have died and warn teens and parents who may not think prescription drugs pose a risk.
As onlookers sniffled and held glimmering candles, Heck stood at a podium showing off items that reminded her of her son -- his newborn baby bracelet, a favorite ball cap and, finally, his autopsy report.
"This is my basket of memories," she told a crowd that included many young people. "This is all I have left of my son."
The Centers for Disease Control reported more than 27,000 unintentional drug overdose deaths in the nation in 2007.
A study released Thursday suggested hope. The 2010 Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey revealed that levels of recent abuse of prescription stimulants decreased by 42 percent between 2001 and 2010 among students.
In Brevard, teen prescription drug deaths aren't extreme, but officials remain concerned.
Oxycodone, one of the most popularly abused prescription drugs, was implicated in the deaths of three teens in 2009 and 2010, according to the Brevard County Medical Examiner's Office.
The office did not break out such statistics by age in previous years.
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Many of the drugs of abuse aren't purchased on the street, but instead, are found by teens in long-forgotten bottles at the back of family medicine chests, said Brevard County Sheriff's Office Lt. Vic DeSantis.
"You can get pills from a lot of sources, they're not as hard to get as illicit drugs," DeSantis said.
The office recovered and destroyed 223,646 pills during an April program called "Operation Medicine Cabinet."
Authorities have also seen a trend of break-ins related to pill abuse, he said.
"They're not taking jewelry or televisions," he said. "They're burglarizing peoples' homes to get medications."
He said officials also are striking out against so-called pain clinics.
"Now we have three cities within the county, as well as the county government itself, that have either passed city ordinances or moratoriums on the establishment and operation of pain clinics," he said.
Heck believes her son got his pills yet another way -- from school mates.
She said the teen had been going through "boyfriend girlfriend issues" before his death.
At one point, she told youths Thursday, the son once consumed with skateboarding and practical jokes had begun breaking into cars.
"The reason why he broke into cars was to get the prescription pills people carelessly left behind," said Heck, who found out later that her son's friends knew he was occasionally popping pills.
The crimes landed him in juvenile hall and he had to wear an ankle monitor, she said. He had gotten it removed the night before she would find his lifeless body in his bedroom.
She urged young people to speak up and not force another mother to have a basket of their child's belongings.
"You have a choice tonight to stop the insanity and break the code of silence," she said. On a screen behind her, a picture of her smiling, blond son flashed.
Edited by guest1 (10/29/10 10:12 PM)
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