MIDDLE SCHOOLERS ABUSING PRESCRIPTION DRUGS MORE OFTEN

Most Pills Come From Home

"They think they know what they're doing but these drugs can be really
dangerous," a counselor said.

Marijuana use in schools has declined, but now students are abusing
prescription drugs at younger ages.

Montgomery County middle schoolers have brought Prozac to school and
offered Viagra to friends at football practice. Pulaski County middle
schoolers have come with Xanax and tried to sell Tofanil.

"It's just so available," said drug counselor Mary Willis of New River
Valley Community Services. "And kids will use what is available."

She is seeing middle-schoolers abusing everything from Oxycontin to Valium.

The National Household Survey on Drug Abuse reported that among 1.6 million
Americans who started using prescription drugs non-medically for the first
time in 1998, the most dramatic increase was in 12- to 17-year-olds and 18-
to 25-year-olds.

This is a shift away from youth marijuana use that peaked in 1996 at 1.6
million - the highest number since 1978 - and declined in 1999.

Most pills come from medicine cabinets at home, experts say. Children are
stealing them from their parents; bartering, distributing and selling the
pills; taking them in elevated dosages; and mixing them with alcohol.

"They're playing with fire," Willis said. "They think they know what
they're doing but these drugs can be really dangerous."

In Montgomery County, the number of drug incidents at middle and high
schools dropped between 2000-01 and 2001-02, but several Montgomery County
School Board members noticed a disturbing trend in disciplinary hearings.

"We saw mostly middle schoolers - seventh- and eighth-graders - grinding up
pills and snorting it. And that is really troubling," board member Rick
Johnson said.

Blacksburg Middle School eighth-grader John Lopez said he knows students
who inhale crushed stimulants such as Ritalin and Adderall, and "parachute"
pills - swallow ground-up pills wrapped in paper that dissolves. A student
offered him Viagra at football practice.

"I said, 'Sorry -. That stuff's for old men,'" Lopez said. Some young
people see the drugs as acceptable because their parents use them. Others
are bored and want to experiment.

In December 2000, the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America launched a
campaign to stop prescription drug abuse. Coalitions in 42 states conducted
local surveys to assess the problem.

CADCA gives kits to communities for guidance. A sample radio spot warns:

"Don't fool yourself: Non-medical use of prescription drugs among America's
youth is on the rise."

Numbers for prescription drug violations were unavailable for Montgomery
County schools, although Superintendent Fred Morton reported a small
increase at middle schools last year. He recalled seeing the antidepressant
Prozac and painkillers but said alcohol abuse is the biggest problem
systemwide.

Pulaski County has had eight cases at middle schools since the 1999-2000
school year. Students have brought painkillers such as Loritab and
Metaxalone, the anti-anxiety drug Xanax, and the antidepressant Tofanil.

Radford schools have seen two or three cases over five years. Giles County
Public Schools Superintendent Robert McCracken can't remember any but said
students are on more doctor-ordered pills than ever.

Rising rates of abuse in young people has been "significant" over the last
20 years, Blacksburg Police Chief Bill Brown said.

Anonymous tips to police point to problems in the schools. "You would think
from some of the information that our middle schools and high schools are
open-air drug markets," Brown said. But most tips are hard to follow up on.
When the chief asks people, "Who's doing it?" they often respond, "I don't
know. I don't want to get involved."

The Montgomery County School Board has talked about adding to the schools'
drug-prevention efforts and holding a work session with local law
enforcement officers to learn how they handle student drug cases.

"We know what we're doing on our end," board member Jim Klagge said at a
meeting. "What is law enforcement doing on their end?"

Every year, students are caught with illegal prescription and
over-the-counter drugs. It's against school policy in Montgomery, Pulaski
and Giles counties, and Radford for students to administer their own
medications. Everything from Tylenol to Ritalin must be turned in to the
office or nurse.

Morton doesn't see a pattern of drug abuse in Montgomery County, but he is
concerned about students engaging in harmful behavior.

"What we're seeing is kids, just for the thrill of it, just picking these
things up and bringing them to school and doing dangerous stuff," he said.

Students caught with drugs for the first time in Montgomery County get a
five-day suspension at block schools and 10-day suspension at non-block
schools. On the second offense, principals recommend expulsion and students
go before the school board. This is the same for anyone caught selling or
distributing drugs.

Pulaski County also imposes a 10-day suspension for students caught with
drugs and gives them the option of undergoing free drug counseling in lieu
of a longer suspension. Students caught selling may be expelled. Those who
think they might have a drug problem can seek drug counseling or go to the
system's Family Counseling Center, no questions asked, said Max Cecil,
coordinator of student services in Pulaski County.

John Lopez and classmates Spencer Beeson and Michael Gallimore don't plan
to experiment with prescription drugs.

"We play sports," Lopez said. "It could affect our performance."

"Or just get us in trouble and suspended," added Gallimore.