SCHOOLS REPORTING ABUSE OF LEGAL PILLS

Officials Say Prescription-Drug Use Growing Trend That's Hard To Detect

A recent incident in which middle-school girls were caught sharing a
prescription painkiller at a Joplin school shines a local spotlight on a
growing national problem.

The incident took place Nov. 14, when a student at North Middle School
brought hydrocodone, a prescription painkiller, from her home and gave two
pills to two other girls. One girl admitted taking a half a pill, and the
other girl admitted taking one and a half pills.

Jim Simpson, Joplin R-8 superintendent, said schools across the state and
across the country are facing problems with children abusing prescription
medication at school.

"It's a growing trend and a very dangerous one," Simpson said. "Rarely do
the students know what they are taking, and almost never do they know the
dosage they are taking, so it's a very dangerous trend."

The National Institute on Drug Abuse agrees with Simpson.

In a report on the institute's Web site, it said a 1999 survey showed that
the sharpest increase in "new users of prescription drugs for non-medical
uses" occurred in children 12-17 and adults 18-25.

The institute said non-medical use of prescription drugs can lead to abuse
of or addiction to those drugs.

The most commonly abused drugs were psychotherapeutic drugs such as
painkillers, tranquilizers, sedatives and stimulants.

"Overall, men and women have roughly similar rates of non-medical use of
prescription drugs with the exception of 12 to 17 year olds," the report
said. "In this age group, young women are more likely to use
psychotherapeutic drugs non-medically. Also among men and women who use
either a sedative, anti-anxiety drug or hypnotic, young women are almost
twice as likely to become addicted."

School officials in Joplin said they've seen between 40 and 60 cases a year
for the past three years or so of students using drugs in the district.
This year has been slower, with 12 cases so far.

But, the types of drugs being used are changing, with the trend moving
toward prescription drugs. Officials said that in the past, about 30
percent to 40 percent of the drug cases involved prescription drugs, while
the rest involved illegal drugs.

This year, 60 percent of the cases have involved prescription drugs.

Steve Cooper, a school resource officer with the Joplin School District who
works primarily at the high school, said students are experimenting with
the drugs.

"What we're seeing is that often the children are bringing in prescriptions
that do not provide any euphoria," Cooper said. "Anything that is labeled
as a painkiller or something that can put you to sleep, they are sampling
it. These drugs are easily accessible and concealable, and they don't have
any of the obvious indicators like some illegal drugs. With marijuana, you
have the smoke and the paraphernalia, but you don't with the prescription
drugs."

Cooper said the most recent case at the high school took place at about the
same time as the case at North Middle School, and involved girls and
hydrocodone.

"A girl had brought five pills that were hydrocodone and another kind of
drug," Cooper said. "The girl gave them to two friends. One took two of the
pills and another took one of the pills. One girl was visibly lethargic in
class, and sometimes that's the only indicator we have of a problem."

Cooper said that in the past, he and other officials have found students
abusing Ritalin, Prozac and other drugs commonly prescribed to children for
mental or emotional disorders.

"I asked one girl why she had taken Ritalin that had been prescribed to a
friend," Cooper said. "She told me her friend was taking it because she was
sad, and, 'I'm sad so it should help me.' She was taking it because she was
depressed, but all teens get depressed at one time or another.

"What they don't realize is that it takes two weeks or so for these drugs
to take effect. They think one pill will make them feel better and then
they don't get the desired reaction, so they take two or three of them."

Other area school superintendents say they've run into problems with
prescription drugs on campus as well.

Carthage Superintendent Gary Reed said he deals with the problem on a
policy level instead of a personal level, so he doesn't see every case in
the district.

"It happens in our district, but I don't think it happens that frequently,"
Reed said. "Every year we get at least one or two cases where students are
misusing over-the-counter or prescription drugs. I'm not sure it's
happening at the elementary level, but the older kids are sometimes caught
with them. The problem is it's easier for the older kids to conceal any
pills they bring in, so we probably don't catch every case."

In Riverton, Kan., Superintendent Dennis Burke agreed that detection is a
problem for school officials.

"Our school policy requires that the students taking prescription or
over-the-counter drugs bring in a permission form with what they are
allowed to take," Burke said. "Could the students take their pills without
us knowing? Yes. The problem is detection, and whether we find out about
the drugs is a problem."

Simpson in Joplin and other area superintendents said their school
districts have enacted policies similar to that in Riverton to try to
control the use of all kinds of over-the-counter and prescription medications.

The policies generally are similar among the schools, requiring the
students to bring all drugs, along with a note from the parents or the
child's doctor telling how they are to be disbursed, to the school
secretary or the school nurse.

The policies also describe the specific consequences for violating these
requirements. Most say students can be suspended or expelled for violating
the policies, depending on whether the students were just taking the drugs
or whether they were distributing them.