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Prescription Drugs in Schools

by Michael Schwanke (Wichita, KS)

It's becoming the drug of choice for teens. It's cheap, easy to get, and hard to detect.
While use of all other drugs declines, prescription drug use is climbing.

Where are teens getting the drugs?

"From their parents I'm sure-their grandparents maybe," says Belle Plaine senior Jeni Burrows.
Belle Plaine Chief of Police Gordon Fell says Burrows is right.

"Parents, the days of stockpiling medication are over," says Fell, who is working to educate parents.

He's dealt with the problem already.  In April, two Belle Plaine Middle School students were arrested for passing pain killers to other students.

While it hasn't become a big problem in Belle Plaine, Fell and school officials are working to keep it that way.

"I think it's new and on-going and something we need to become aware of," says Principal Monte Stewart taking to parents.

Burrows doesn't use drugs, but hears other students talk.  She says teens are turning to prescriptions because they're easy.

"Prescription drugs are simple and easy to get access to and a lot of times kids don't have to pay for them because their parents have them," says Burrows.

The most commonly abused prescription drugs are pain killers.

A study by the Department of Justice found that more than eight percent of 12 to 17-year-olds have abused a pain killer.

Common brand names include Lorcet, Lortab, Oxycontin, Percocet, Percodan, Tylox and Vicodin.