VIDEO – NO HIDING ANYMORE –
Sept. 28, 2025 – Austin Varipapa, Director of Long-Term Care at Discovery Place, shared his firsthand experience with TV17 News. As a former user himself, he says the drug market has shifted dramatically from the streets to social media, and it can be accessed as easily as ordering takeout, but the consequences can be deadly. “There’s basically like an Amazon for drugs online,” Varipapa said. “Snapchat was probably the big one first. People are posting basically what they have — like a menu — and kids use private stories, VPNs, WhatsApp and Telegram to connect. It’s gotten more and more prevalent with today’s drug market.”
A study from Columbia University found teens who use social media are more likely to try tobacco, alcohol, and drugs. Half reported seeing pictures of kids drunk or high online, making them more likely to try it themselves.
Varipapa says the appeal comes from how drugs are portrayed.
It is strictly the glorification, the party lifestyle, the money, the drugs, the girls — all posted online where it looks really enticing. It is never the reality: the overdoses, the hospital, the treatment.
For Varipapa, social media also played a role in his own path to addiction.
