A growing trend among Utah teens has teachers, parents and doctors worried.
It's prescription drug abuse, and it is much more prevalent than you might think.
News Specialist Stacey Butler has the story.
Prescription drugs like Lortab, Percocet and Vicodin are the new drug of choice among a growing teen population.
This week we told you about the nine students at Payson High who were suspended for abusing the drugs.
Though few parents know about it, we're discovering the problem is much more widespread.
Ask teenagers if they have ever seen peers buying or selling prescription drugs at their high school and you may be surprised at the show of hands.
Some fifty miles away from Payson High where nine students were suspended for allegedly buying or selling painkillers, the students at Taylorsville High School say it's not just a Utah County problem.
Bree Shober/student: "A LOT OF SURGERIES AND STUFF, PEOPLE OFFER LORTAB LEFT AND RIGHT."
Tyler Lucas: "THERE'S A LOT OF PLACES YOU CAN GET IT."
David Tufuga/Student: "IT'S NOT JUST LIKE THE SKATERS SELLING IT. IT'S NOT THE MINORITIES SELLING IT. IT'S EVERYWHERE."
But the director of the Utah High School Activities Association says it's not a Taylorsville High School problem either.
It's likely a problem among many Utah teens.
Jerry Bovee/Utah High School Activities Association: "THERE'S A RATIONALIZATION OUT THERE THAT SINCE WE CAN GET THIS, IT'S OKAY TO USE."
Travis: "IS THIS SOMETHING THAT YOU ALL TALK ABOUT OR THINK ABOUT? WE DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT. IT JUST GOES ON SO MUCH THAT IT'S LIKE NORMAL BEHAVIOR."
Normal, says Dr. Michael Crookston, who counsels chemically dependent teens
at the Odyssey House, because the abuse of prescription opiate painkillers on many high school campuses is on the rise.
Dr. Michael Crookston, MD/Chemical Dependency Specialist: "WE SEE FEWER ALCOHOLICS AND MORE OPIATE ADDICTS."
Opiate painkillers like Lortab, Percocet, Vicodin, Oxycontin, are the new drug of choice, says Dr. Crookston, for teens who steer clear from illegal drugs.
Dr. Michael Crookston/Chemical Dependency Specialist: "NOBODY WANTS TO BELIEVE THAT THEIR SON OR DAUGHTER IS GETTING HIGH ON OPIATES."
Lortab and Vicodin have the same addictive opiate contained in heroin, and create the same effect in the brain.
One more reason teacher Leigh Vandernakker now speaks to her students regularly about the dangers of prescription drug abuse.
Leigh Vandernakker/Taylorsville High School Teacher: "NOT ONLY IS IT ILLEGAL, WHAT COULD IT DO TO ME? IT COULD KILL ME."
The only solution, says Dr. Crookston, is exactly what this teacher is doing--
telling kids about the warning signs before it becomes a problem.
Mindy Olsen/student: "WE NEED TO KNOW HOW TO PREVENT IT IN OUR SCHOOL, AND I THINK THAT'S THE KEY."
The National Household Survey on Drug Abuse indicates the sharpest increases in new users of prescription drugs for non medical purposes occur in 12 to 17 year olds and 18 to 25 year olds.
April 18, 2002
Coach Arrested, Nine Students Suspended
A Payson High School teacher faces charges for allegedly helping students illegally obtain prescription drugs.
Kevin Poulsen was charged with distributing a controlled substance to a minor and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Nine students were suspended for allegedly using the painkillers on school property.
Officials say the students bought them from classmates who were taking pain medications for legitimate reasons.
They paid up to $60 a pill.
April 17, 2002
