By The Editorial Board
With the misuse of prescription pills increasing rapidly, peers and staff members are concerned for student safety. Though this problem has always existed, it has worsened significantly over the past few months.
The common misconception behind prescription pills is that they are a safer option than illegal substances. Students tend to think that since pills are prescribed by doctors, they are safe to use.
In reality, when taken in the wrong dosage or when mixed with alcohol, prescription pills can be extremely dangerous.
Choices made by students around the issue of drugs and alcohol cannot be forced, but they can be influenced, positively or negatively.
A student may choose to turn down a pill they are offered because they are aware of the risk. Conversely, a student may accept a pill because they are unaware of its dangers.
This is why education around the effects of misusing prescription pills is so vital for student safety. Students are more likely to avoid an unsafe situation if they have access to and understand information about the dangers of pill use.
Not all students who misuse prescription pills do so because they are uneducated; many students know the risks, but simply don’t care. Educating the student body is unlikely to solve the problem completely, but it could help ensure that students who are not using to continue to not use.
Part of why prescription pills are popular among the student body is that they are easy to acquire. According to Vashon Alliance to Reduce Substance Abuse (VARSA), two thirds of teens who report misuse of prescription pills get them from their homes, families or friends.
In many households, coming across prescription pills is relatively easy — especially when family members keep their medications in an unsecured location. If more parents locked away prescriptions and cut off all other means of access within their homes, the amount of recreational pill usage among teens would drop significantly.
Another major factor that leads to the misuse of prescription pills is overprescription.
Overprescription of opioids has been a major problem in the medical community for over a decade. In 2001, the Joint Commission, a nonprofit healthcare conglomerate, published standards regarding the improvement of the treatment of patients’ pain, causing an overall increase in the amount of prescriptions provided.
This led to an increase in the use of opioids, which are more effective than most other pain-treatment options. The increase also caused concern in the medical community about opioid misuse and addiction
Following the upward trend in opioid use, the Joint Commission released a revised standard for the treatment of pain in patients. The revision included changes in the protocols for how patient pain is assessed and managed.
The revisions also include standards calling for referral patients to enter addiction treatment programs. These revisions were made in an effort to decrease the opioid addiction problem rooting from prescriptions.
The most recent actions in decreasing the opioid prescription is a positive change. The fewer unneeded prescription pills in our community, the better, as the fewer pills there are, the fewer opportunities there are for that medication to be given away or sold to teens who intend to use it recreationally.
One example that applies to the school environment is the use of Adderall with the intent of improving academic performance. Adderall is a prescription medication used to treat attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy, but the pill is commonly misused.
Students take Adderall while studying or before tests to enhance mental concentration.
Students who begin to regularly use Adderall in high school are likely to carry on that habit throughout their high school careers and into college.
They become so reliant on that sense of focus they get from the drug that they feel they are unable to succeed in academics without it. Add to this its physiologically addictive properties, and it becomes extremely difficult to stop.
Education is an important factor in decreasing the amount of misuse of prescription pills among teens in our school. However, other steps must be taken since the knowledge of risk is not always enough to convince students to steer clear of a dangerous substance.
Misconceptions regarding the safety of such pills would be less common if students received more education regarding prescription pills during their high school years.
Neighborcare’s student-based health clinic (SBHC) currently teaches students individually regarding drug and alcohol use.
Once they are fully staffed and have moved into their permanent space in Room 1205, they plan to work with the school and student body “to identify methods to address this problem,” according to SBHC medical director Gabrielle Douthitt.
These methods may include peer counselling and guest speaker visits.
Other than the mandatory health class that most students take their freshman year in which they learn about a variety of topics, including the dangers and effects of drugs and alcohol, there are no other structured courses that provide drug and alcohol education to students.
Requiring that more health classes be taken by students is one option in increasing awareness around the dangers of prescription drug use. However, this is an unrealistic solution. For this plan to be possible, the school would need to hire an additional health teacher and find a space for the class. Not to mention, most students would oppose having to take more health classes because many do not have time in their schedules.
Regardless, the misuse of prescription pills at our school is a major problem that needs to be addressed one way or another.
Neighborcare and the SBHC have the ability to help solve the problem by supporting and educating the student body. So far, no concrete actions have been taken by the school that specifically address the issue.
The administration and the SBHC should collaborate in order to help solve this problem. This may look like the administration providing venues for guest speakers hired by the SBHC. The administration and the SBHC should additionally corroborate the material they educate students on so students get the same information from each source.
One way or another, the community needs to take action.