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Schools Create Prescription Drug Task Force

Davison Schools Hope To Cut Down On Drug Use By Students

POSTED: 1:49 pm EDT October 15, 2008
UPDATED: 9:43 pm EDT October 15, 2008

Davison Community Schools and doctors, dentists and pharmacists from the Davison area will formally announced the formation of its joint Prescription Drug Task Force at a press conference Wednesday afternoon.

Prescription medication abuse by teens and young adults is a serious problem in the United States. According to the Partnership for a Drug Free America, 1 in 5 teens has abused a prescription pain medication, 1 in 5 has abused prescription stimulants and tranquilizers and 1 in 10 has abused cough medicine.

In the past few years, Davison school officials said they have noticed that the misuse and distribution of prescription drugs make up the majority of student drug-related disciplinary cases.

They state that while there is not a huge number of disciplinary cases in the schools due to drugs, Task Force members do feel that one incident is one too many.

In a press release Wednesday, officials said in most cases, school officials learn that the drugs were obtained -- usually unknowingly -- from a family member such as a parent or grandparent who had a legitimate prescription.

Some of the more popular prescription drugs that students are abusing include Adderall (medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD), powerful pain relievers like Vicodin, Darvocet, OxyContin and anti-anxiety drugs such as Klonopin and Xanax and generic versions of these drugs.

Because of these alarming statistics, the school district joined forces with area doctors, dentists and pharmacists.

The result of this collaboration -- the first of its kind in Genesee County and possibly the state -- is the Prescription Drug Task Force.

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