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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