NY: Another drug mess at North Shore’s ‘secret staircase’? (opinion)

silive News –

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – It’s one of my favorite parts of Staten Island.

But it’s a troubled area as well.

I’m talking about the “secret staircase” on the North Shore that goes from Tompkins Circle down to Victory Boulevard.

It’s a link between one of the tonier parts of the North Shore and a grittier, more working class neighborhood below.

It’s also been a spot where in years past I’ve found hypodermic needles, heroin packaging and other evidence of drug use.

I used the staircase on my way to the St. George library a few weeks ago and made a startling find at the bottom: A clear recycling bag full of empty plastic drug bottles, like those used by pharmacists to fill prescriptions. The bag had been ripped and some of the bottles had spilled out.

It could have just been trash, carelessly dumped at the bottom of the staircase for whatever reason.

But it still caught my eye given the other drug-related debris I’d found on the staircase in years past. I was curious whether any of these drugs, while benign if used according to the label, could be abused.

“They are all strong get-high potential meds,” said Luke Nasta, CEO of the Camelot Staten Island treatment center, “especially when taken together and with alcohol, pot, illicit drugs. They are also high-risk overdose combinations.”

This one in particular interested me, a bottle containing promethazine hydrochloride and codeine.

Used as a cough suppressant, this drug can be misused by those looking to get high. (Tom Wrobleski/Staten Island Advance)

According to the Drugwatch.com website, the misuse of liquid promethazine hydrochloride and codeine (an opioid pain reliever), used to treat common cold symptoms and cough, has become “increasingly popular among youth in several areas of the country.”

Here’s another bottle of the same stuff, clearly labeled, “Not For Household Use.”

This bottle is labeled “Not For Household Use.” (Tom Wrobleski/Staten Island Advance)

The syrup may be mixed with alcohol or flavored sodas and consumed for its mind-altering or mood-boosting effects, and may be referred to as “purple drank” or “sizzurp.”

“It’s the caviar of drugs,” Ronald Peters, a retired professor of behavioral sciences at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston was quoted as saying on Drugwatch.com.

Quetiapine, below, is used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, as well as generalized anxiety disorder, major depression and mood disorders, according to the Western Journal of Emergency Medicine.

Ordinarily benign medications are often misused by those looking for a drug buzz. (Tom Wrobleski/Staten Island Advance)

While the majority of quetiapine prescriptions are used for their intended purpose, the site said that some patients obtain quetiapine from both legitimate and illicit sources and abuse it. The abuse reportedly achieves a variety of desirable recreational alterations of the senses, including anxiolysis (a relaxed waking state), hypnosis and euphoria.

Quetiapine is also abused in combination with other illicit substances, such as cocaine or other sympathomimetics, to enhance their effects or to aid in self-treatment of withdrawal.

Another empty pill bottle found at bottom of North Shore’s “secret staircase.” (Tom Wrobleski/Staten Island Advance)

Methocarbamol, above, known by its brand name Robaxin, is a muscle relaxer. While the Nova Recovery Center in Texas says that the substance is not an opioid and does not relieve generalized pain, it can be misused. High doses can cause drowsiness and dizziness, the site said, which can be mistaken for a high.

Sometimes the medications are mixed with alcohol or other drugs for illicit purposes. (Tom Wrobleski/Staten Island Advance)

Gabapentin, known under the brand name Neurontin, is prescribed to treat nerve pain, alcohol and cocaine withdrawals, restless leg syndrome, diabetic neuropathy, fibromyalgia, and seizures, according to the Addiction Center website. Gabapentin abuse tends to occur in people who already have an addiction to opioids or other drugs, with the effects of Gabapentin intoxication being described as a sense of calm, euphoria and a high like marijuana.

This empty pill bottle was also found at the bottom of the North Shore’s “secret staircase.” (Tom Wrobleski/Staten Island Advance)

Metformin is used to treat diabetes, but can be used off-label for weight loss through purging, including by people suffering from eating disorders, according to the National Institutes for Health.

Nasta said that there definitely was the opportunity for many of the drugs seen here to be abused, seeing as they are painkillers or give an alcohol or sleep effect.

“It could be all legitimate or recreational use,” he said when shown pictures of the pill bottles I’d found. “Definitely dangerous.”

The debris had been removed when I visited the staircase more recently.

In 2016, Advance videographer Amanda Steen and I did a video on the staircase after I had found some drug debris there.

I found more drug-related items after visiting the staircase in 2019, including the remains of a Naloxone anti-overdose kit.

Remains of Naloxone anti-overdose kit found on North Shore’s “secret staircase” in 2019. (Tom Wrobleski/Staten Island Advance)

And in a wooded area not too far away from the secret staircase, I found in 2019 the remains of drug use and sexual activity, including needles and condom wrappers.