Your medicine cabinet may be a drug dealer in your home. Sleeping pills, anti-depressants, pain killers, and even over–the-counter cough and cold medicines all have the potential for abuse. Every day, 2,500 more young people, ages 12 to 17, choose to abuse a pain reliever for the first time. Among 12 to 13 year olds, prescriptions are often the drug of choice.
The 2009 American Drug and Alocohol Survey given to Bernards students indicated that 14 percent of seniors reported using prescription pain killers without a doctor's consent within the last 12 months. The national average for the same statistic is 10 percent.
Ridge consistently scored higher than the national average for prescription pain killer use on a number of measures including percentage of students who have ever tried the drug (16 percent in Bernards, 13 percent national average) and those who have used within the last month (8 percent in Bernards, 4 percent national average). Use has also been on the rise, according to the survey. Those using the in the past year increased 7 percent from 2006-07.
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Perhaps the most telling statistic is that 54 percent of Ridge seniors indicated that it was either "fairly easy" or "very easy" to obtain prescription painkillers in 2009.
The next Somerset County Community Connections Workshop, titled "Prescription & OTC Medications: The Drug Dealer at Home," will be held from 9 to 11:30 a.m. on Friday, June 11. The program, designed to inform parents, school staff and professionals who serve children and families, will be held at Somerset County Park Commission headquarters, located at 355 Milltown Road in Bridgewater. The workshop will begin at 8:30 a.m. with registration, networking and a continental breakfast.
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Lieutenant David Schlueter, New Jersey State Police, and a panel of young adults from the Daytop Treatment and Education Program will review medical concerns and explore the course of drug abuse, addiction and recovery.
To register for the workshop, contact Mariann Bruno at mbruno@co.somerset.nj.us. The workshop fee is $20. Checks should be payable to Friends of Somerset County Youth.
The workshop is sponsored by EmPoWER Somerset and the Somerset County Office of Youth Services.
For more information, contact Mariann Bruno, Somerset County Office of Youth Services, at (908) 704-6333.
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