Published: April 27, 2007 02:58 pm      

Teen prescription abuse on upswing

DUNCAN — In February, a drug-awareness forum was held for the parents of Duncan Middle School and Duncan High School students aimed at getting parents more familiar with drugs and their dangers and to raise awareness of the growing trend among teens to misuse prescription drugs.

Tuesday night, a follow-up forum was held, with guest speaker Gaye Watson and a question-and-answer session with school officials and law enforcement officers.

Once again, a discussion about the misuse of prescription drugs took center stage.

“We all want school to be safe, but we want the whole community to be safe. The kids are getting a lot of these drugs from your medicine cabinets, or from their grandparents’ medicine cabinets. So even when school is out for the summer, the problem will still be there,” said Duncan Police Master Officer Randall McAllister, who patrols Duncan High School each day.

Another source of drugs or alcohol, said officials, just might be some of the other parents, who might actually provide the alcohol or drugs at their homes, thinking it is all right if they are present to monitor the situation.

“It’s been a huge problem in Duncan, some of those ‘other’ parents,” said Assistant Superintendent Larry David.

DPD Detective John Byers said the most common prescription drugs used by local teens include oxycontin, roxycoton, oxycodone, methadone, Tylenol with codeine, Xanax, Lortab and Percodan.

Marijuana is the most common illegal drug, said Byers, and then crack cocaine. Some ecstacy has also been found.

Advice to parents included: Invade your child’s privacy, ask lots of questions, and network with other parents you trust to find out what’s really going on.

Superintendent Sherry Labyer said one way to find out what’s going on with your child is to attend parent-teacher conferences and ask the teachers.

“They spend a lot of time with your children each day. They know your kids,” she said.

School officials reviewed the school drug-testing protocols.

“After two years, the program has not made as much of an impact as we would like, but we get an average of one or two positives each time, and increasing the awareness of those parents is a win for us,” said DHS Assistant Principal Dennis Loafman.

“A lot of kids exposed to drugs or alcohol need a reason to say ‘no,’ and we think this gives them that reason,” chimed in David.

“Beat the test” strategies and tricks were also briefly discussed.

If suspicious, parents were urged to take their children to their family doctors or to the hospital for private testing, or to use a home drug-test kit.

If a home test comes up positive, school officials can help with referrals to counseling services.

Police officers encouraged parents to “be nosy,” and to enter a child’s room often.

If an unidentified pill is found, call the poison control hotline, at 1-800-222-1222, to obtain help in identifying it.

“They won’t ask for a name,” said Byers.

Parents were also encouraged to call school officials with any “tips” or concerns.

“I think a lot of students are getting tired of all of this, too, and want to do something,” McAllister said.

“If you hear about something going on, pick up the phone and call us,” said Janice Gay, an assistant principal at DHS.

“We don’t reveal our sources,” added McAllister.