Oxy in Teens

How can you tell if someone is addicted to OXY?  My son works every day, but is increasingly moody and short-tempered, and, we have found pills and large sums of money in his room.   I think he is dealing right out of our house.  A lot of his friends have been arrested and gone through detox.
How do you approach someone and where do you get help?  He is 19 years old and living at home.  He has been seeing a counselor for a year since he was arrested for having marijuana parafinalia in his car.  He has been in random drug testing for a year - why wouldn't oxy show up, if he is taking it?  He will lose his job if we send him to detox.  They also do random drug testing at his place of work.  He intakes great amounts of niacin (supposedly the "friends" say this masks results of drug testing.)  His sister saw a friend of our son's  "snorting" oxy - I am sure they are all into it.    Where do we begin to  get help?

[Chi_Chi_Lover]

Kids can be such a heartache...Have you thought of randomly doing a drug test at home. We have a 17 year old and do random test on him. I would start there then look into counseling and have them advise you where to go from there.

[poetrygirl1960]

Someone in this forum worked for a drug testing agency or something like that.  Anyway I remember reading just today that there is something called a 5 panel test that is given and some drugs don't show up on it.  But, there is one you can do at home that will test for everything.  It probably would be a good idea to do this.  I'm so sorry you are going through this hard time.

[Desperado58]

Thanks for your comments - he has been in counseling, but it has done no good - especially since we think he is on oxy.  I spoke to a rehab in CA and the intake person said it is best to remove them from their environment and detox for a minimum of 6 weeks - ideally 3 months or more.  This is very expensive - we cannot afford it.  The intake person also recommended the drug test that you can purchase at a pharmacy - if he refuses, we know he is guilty.  then what?  Is your 17 year old on drugs?

[FLaddict]

You could take a piece of his hair out of his brush/comb and get that sent to a lab for testing. Not sure how to go about it, just a suggestion.

There are tests you can order online that are supposed to be accurate.

Good Luck Mom. I used heavy drugs like heroin when I was his age. I am over 8 years clean from that, there is hope.

[Jacqui805]

I'm sorry for your troubles......I'd personally recommend a hair follicle drug test, that'll tell you exactly what he took, how much he took, and when he took it.  Urine tests aren't terribly reliable.  It sounds though, that you answered your own question with your description of what's been going on....  I don't really know what to tell you about the hardest part, except  maybe to talk to him about your concerns and what you already know, love him, and support him, as best you can.  

[liscamdave]

Well, there are also drug tests that can be purchased at a pharmacey. I am not sure if what he is taking to mask the drug test is something that he takes continuously when he feels a random drug test will be administered. I know that my husband used to drink this stuff the morning of his drug tests, and he always kept a bottle in his car cause they were also random, and he would always pass. However, I guess it depends..Anyway, can you purchase one of these home tests and randomly give it to him? I don't know. Maybe the hair/lab test, if you really want to know. Also, I know that with Oxy's (my own personal Drug of choice) his pupils will be very small, like pin points. Massive scratching, talkative. Moody, tired. Aggrevated. All diff symptoms with everyone. But those are some to look for. What did the pills look like that you found?