New Drug of Choice for Teens

The Springfield paper recently had a front-page article on the growing trend of prescription drug abuse. One in five high school students have abused prescription drugs; "more than the percent of students who had tried cocaine, ecstacy, heroin and meth combined." AND they just get the drugs out of their families' and friends' medicine cabinets and pass them around. Some students become addicted and it can lead to death, the article mentioned a prominent Nixa football player who accidentally overdosed and died. It is breaking school policy for students to have prescription drugs, theirs' or anybody else's, at school and illegal to have somebody else's meds anywhere else. Suggestions to prevent this abuse are 1. keep your medicines locked up, 2. dispose of unused medications and 3. "awareness is key" talk about it with your teens and family and friends your teen spends time with. "A full list of state resources" can be found online at http://dmh.mo.gov/ada/adaindex.htm