Medical students from the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine are trying to educate elementary, middle and high school students about the dangers of prescription drug abuse.
OU-HCOM’s drug education group started last year. The group visits schools and uses dramatic skits and hard facts to open the dialogue about prescription drugs.
“The skits are designed to be situations that they might actually encounter,” said Kaitlyn Kelly, one of the initiators of the group.
The students are a tough audience, but appear to get the message.
“I think it was pretty interesting because, well, they’re (the drug education group) coming in, using their time to teach us how alcohol and all the drugs can really affect you in all the wrong ways and all the good ways,” said Kyler Young, an eighth grader at Athens Middle School.
Posts Tagged ‘Prescription Drugs’
Medical Students In Ohio Educate Young People About Prescription Drugs
Tuesday, December 6th, 2011Arkansas Has Highest Rate Of Teenagers Abusing Prescription Drugs
Thursday, November 3rd, 2011Arkansas has the highest number of teenagers abusing prescription drugs. Sixty three percent of teenagers in Arkansas are abusing prescription drug that are coming from family medicine cabinets. Twenty one percent of high school seniors in Arkansas admit they have abused prescription drugs. Thirty three percent of teenagers in Arkansas believe “there’s nothing wrong” with using prescription drugs.
“We don’t want our kids to die from prescription abuse. There is a myth of safety with prescription drugs; we are trying to teach that they [prescription pills] are not,” said Steve Varady, policy coordinator with the Office of the State Drug Director.
Epidemic of prescription drugs spreading in high schools
Wednesday, March 30th, 2011
It has been reported that twenty percent of students in high school have abused prescription drugs. The epidemic of prescription drugs has posed a challenge for law enforcement and school officials, as well as for parents.
It is important to know how to dispose of unused prescription drugs, so as to minimize the chances of abuse by your child or their friends. Many communities around the United States have initiated take back programs, some even designating entire days to safely ridding medicine cabinets of the prescription drugs. Many pharmacies will take back unused prescription drugs, no questions asked. For participating pharmacies, visit
www.disposemymeds.com . Many pills can be mixed into coffee grounds or cat litter, then thrown away with the rest of the household garbage in a tightly sealed plastic bag. Some pills can be flushed down the toilet, but check before you do to make sure this will not harm your plumbing. For more information on safe disposal of prescription drugs, visit www.fda.gov
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Communities Frustrated by the Rise in Prescription Drug Abuse
Friday, September 24th, 2010
Advocacy groups like the Butler County Coalition for Healthy, Safe and Drug-Free Communities are frustrated by the rise in prescription drug abuse. From 1999 to 2007, prescription drug poisonings in Butler County, Ohio have nearly quadrupled. A 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that 64 percent of people under under 25 years of age got their supply of prescription pills from friends or relatives.
“That is the common thread that we feel is happening and where (medications) are coming from,” said Grace Marie Eckman, project specialist for Medication Take Back in Butler County.
“When another family member of someone in the household is looking for something to cure a headache, they know who is on medication for pain,” Eckman said.
The increase in prescription drug abuse is evident on the campus of Miami University in nearby Oxford, Ohio.
“We have, over the past years, seen more instances of prescription drug abuse, particularly stimulant drugs like Adderall,” said Lt. Benjamin Spillman of Miami University Police Department. “We’ve also seen people with legal prescriptions selling these to friends, presumably for the purpose of concentration for studying.”
Eckman wants to use school as a platform to teach about the dangers of prescription drug abuse.
”The schools have to be open to providing programs,” Eckman said. “The school has to be responsible to provide information. Our schools are our strongest asset and ally.”
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X-Ray Tech. Accused of Writing 100+ Fraudulent Prescriptions
Thursday, September 9th, 2010
Police in Pinellas County, Florida arrested an X-ray technician last week accused of writing more than 100 fraudulent prescriptions in her own name. Jessica A. Rhodes was arrested on six counts each of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud and trafficking in hydrocodone.
Rhodes had been the subject of an investigation after receiving a tip from a pharmacist at a local Target. Police found that Rhodes had forged 121 prescriptions from April 8, 2009 to June 30, 2010. Rhodes then passed the prescriptions at pharmacies throughout Pinellas County.
One hundred of the forged prescriptions, which totaled about 3,765 pills, were for hydrocodone and oxycodone.
Prescription Opioids Causing Addiction to Street Drugs
Monday, September 6th, 2010
New research from the University of Buffalo found that prescription opioids are causing people to become addicted to street drugs like heroin and cocaine. Once addicted, almost all of the patients prescribed opioids wind up transitioning to drugs like heroin simply because they are generally cheaper and can be more readily accessible.
Of 75 patients hospitalized at the Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo, New York, for detoxification, more than 41 percent told their physicians that they became addicted to street drugs after being prescribed prescription opioids like methadone, oxycodone, and fentanyl. Ninety-two percent of all patients in the treatment program said the use of the prescription opioids actually led them to use street drugs.
“This information suggests that there is a progressive nature to opioid use, and that prescription opioids can be the gateway to illicit drug addiction,” said Richard Blondell, M.D., professor of family medicine and the author of the study.
Prescription Drugs Biggest Drug-Related Threat to Health and Safety
Wednesday, August 25th, 2010
Abuse of prescription drugs is the biggest drug-related threat to the health and safety of Floridians. The 2009 Florida Medical Examiner’s Report revealed that overdoses from prescription drugs kill seven Floridians each day. This is five times greater than deaths from all illegal drugs combined.
The explosion of pain clinics in Florida has contributed to the problem. Many of these are “pill mills” where drugs are traded for money. Florida has become popular for drug-seekers from other states to come and get a supply of prescription drugs.
According to the 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 70 percent of people who abuse prescription drugs get their supply from their friends and family. Other patients receive their prescription drugs from one physician. Many others “doctor shop” to receive their prescriptions for pain medication. Stolen, forged or counterfeit prescriptions are a common way addicts get their supply of prescription drugs.
In January, Florida convened a Statewide Prescription Drug Task Force made up of several state agencies and charged them with finding solutions to the problem. In conjunction with federal agencies, the Task Force has accelerated their attack on the criminal activity that often surround prescription drug use.
A law, SB 2272, was passed that granted greater authority for health officials to regulate the pain clinics in Florida. The Prescription Drug Monitoring Program will begin in December. It will allow physicians to look at their patient’s prescription history. As a result, potential “doctor shoppers” will be discouraged.