York Co. Police Crack Down On Prescription Drug Use

YORK CO., N.C.,None — Police told Eyewitness News they're seeing a dangerous trend in York County: Young people are overdosing on a deadly mix of prescription drugs.

"Young people are just on this painkiller kick," said Marvin Brown, head of the York County multi-jurisdictional drug enforcement unit. "If you mix a drug called Zanax and painkillers; Percocet, OxyCotin, oxycodone, methadone, the reaction has a tendency to stop your heart, and kids are dying."

Police said that's what happened to 23-year-old Amanda Jones on Dec. 20, 2009. She was found dead in a condo unit on Sasha Court in Rock Hill. The coroner said she died from taking a mix of Zanax and methadone.

Her death and three others in 2009 encouraged York County drug agents to take a closer look at charging the drug dealers who supplied the drugs for contributing to those deaths.

"Most of these people are taking the drugs on their own free will, so they have some responsibility. But the people who are selling the drugs also share responsibility," Brown said.

On Thursday night, York County drug agents arrested two cousins in connection with the death of Amanda Jones. Billy Adkins, 23, and Curtis Adkins, 29, are charged with trafficking methadone. They are also charged with distributing the prescription pills that caused Jones's death.

Prosecutors are now looking at whether they could also face manslaughter charges. Such charges are rare, but there are past cases in South Carolina in which the person who provided alcohol to someone involved in a fatal drunken driving crash was convicted of manslaughter.

Brown said the face of today's drug addict would shock most people. It's usually a young, often college-age, person who gets hooked after raiding a family member's medicine cabinet, he said.

Investigators said tracing prescription drugs back to their source is easier than tracking a street drug such as cocaine or marijuana. Drug agents said that's because pills can often be tracked back to the bottle they came from or the medicine cabinet where they were stored.

Brown said he wants to send drug dealers a message about the often deadly consequences of what they're selling.

"I want people to know that if you sell drugs to someone, and they die, then we're going to come after you," he said.

WSOC