The abuse of prescription drugs represents close to 30% of the overall drug problem in the United States, a close second to only cocaine, according to the DEA. Oxycontin is a favorite among San Diego teenagers and young adults and is a plague spreading among California’s youth. Concerned parents in Del Mar have organized a group to raise awareness among parents and prevent abuse of the painkiller. To learn more, contact Barrett Hammond of La Jolla Recovery.

Here are some of their stories.

• Teresa Ashcraft, lost a 19-year-old son to OxyContin, “Our children were not addicts. They were just regular teenagers,”
• Donnie Trent, of Lee County, said he is a recovering addict who tried the drug and then struggled with addiction for five years. He said money needs to be spent on treatment, “because jails are not the answer to addiction.”
• Lee Nuss, of Florida, showed the court an urn that contained the ashes of her only son, whose college fund ended up paying for his funeral. She said the death was part of a “legal genocide” of the nation’s youth.”
• Marianne Skolek spoke about her 29-year-old son Tyler, who was prescribed OxyContin in January of 2002 and died in April of that year, leaving a young son behind. She called Oxycontin “sheer evil.”
• Victor and Theresa Del Regno are a South Kingstown, R.I., couple who lost their son Andrew to an OxyContin overdose in 2002. Andrew was a college student who tried the drug at a party.