DRUG ABUSE AWARENESS

As a volunteer with Hillsborough Education Foundation Speaker's Bureau, and
as a pharmacist, I recently had the opportunity to speak to the fifth-grade
classes at Bay Crest Elementary School about prescription and
over-the-counter drug abuse. I commend the teachers for having the
foresight to educate their students about the problem at this early age.

According to the 2000 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, about 4
million people ages 12 or older abused prescription drugs in the month
prior to the survey. More specifically, those between ages 12 and 17 showed
the greatest increase in trying pain relievers and stimulants for the first
time. Over-the-counter drug abuse is not included in the survey but is just
as important to address.

After Gov. Bush's daughter, Noelle, was arrested for trying to pick up a
phony narcotic prescription earlier this year, parents may have been led to
believe that prescription drug abuse is taking place only through
pharmacies, by addicts. However, children who take prescription stimulants,
like Ritalin, and those who have access to parents' prescriptions have
given - and even sold - their pills to classmates. Parents should include
abuse of prescription and over- the-counter drugs in any talk about drug
abuse and reiterate the fact that even if a drug is considered safe, it is
not necessarily harmless.

Kudos to Ms. Cutler, Ms. Guadalupe, Ms. Rueda and Mr. Brown. I hope your
students know just how caring you are!

If parents would like a list of resources to help address drug abuse
concerns with their children, they can e-mail me at easypharmacy101@yahoo.com.

SHAILA PATEL

Tampa