A fellow student asked Courtney Griffin if she would sell her pills that treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

“No thanks. I don’t sell drugs,” the Lawrence High School junior said she responded. When she needs to take the medication, she takes it at home, and never brings the pills to school.

The reported solicitation is part of what law enforcement and anti-drug groups say is a growing problem among teenagers and young adults.

According to the nonprofit Partnership for a Drug-Free America’s annual tracking study, one in five teenagers reports abusing prescription pain medication or stimulants and tranquilizers.

“I think it sets a normalization. If they begin to believe that it is all right to use these drugs, they don’t see the harm, will they not continue to use it into the future?” said special agent Jeff Brandau of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.

LHS and Free State High School filed one police report each in December because a student gave prescription medication to a classmate. All four students involved received suspensions.

Drug enforcement officers are worried that teenagers and young adults don’t equate prescription drug abuse with using other illicit drugs, Brandau said. Plus, he added, agencies are already stretched going after dealers of methamphetamine, cocaine and other illegal drugs.

“The only illicit drug use (in young people) that is on the increase is prescription medications,” he said.

Guarding the medicine cabinet

Young adults have access to their parents’ medicine cabinets, or they may go to lengths such as pilfering a medicine supply at real estate open houses, Brandau said.

Among narcotic analgesics in Kansas, the pain killers oxycodone and hydrocodone have become the most distributed in the last six years, according to Drug Enforcement Administration data. In 2006, almost 350,000 grams of hydrocodone and 275,000 grams of oxycodone were distributed, compared with about 100,000 grams each in 2000.

Drug enforcement agents also worry about students taking medication to gatherings known as “pharm parties,” and mixing the drugs, Brandau said.

“Basically, it’s one of those risky behaviors. It could be speeding, driving recklessly or drinking alcohol. It’s one extra thing (parents and adults) have to be more vigilant about,” said Dr. Ty Yoshida, a psychiatrist at Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center, who works with teenagers and young adults on medication management.

Prevention

Parents can play a major role in educating their children and convincing them to properly use prescription drugs.

“It really ultimately depends on the relationship they have with their kids,” Yoshida said.

Brandau said parents need to be aware of their child’s friends and how they spend their time. They also need to keep an eye on their own medication and notify school administrators or police if an issue arises.

Lawrence school administrators say drug prevention education should inform students about prescription drug abuse.

“I hear a lot about it during finals time,” said Eric Killen, an LHS senior.

Some students believe taking the medication will help them focus to study, he said.

“I don’t think it’s very safe,” said Samantha Galyardt, an LHS junior.

Hard to judge

LHS Associate Principal Matt Brungardt said in the last two years the school has had only two instances of students distributing prescription drugs.

“I think we see more use of alcohol and marijuana than we do prescription drugs,” he said.

Administrators come down hard with the board’s designated penalties, and they also educate students and parents on having the school nurse keep and administer medications during school hours, he said.

Vivian Caughey, nurse at South Junior High and Broken Arrow School, said most students take their medication at home compared with a few years ago. It’s also hard to judge whether abuse at school is a problem, but there’s usually about one case per year that administrators are aware of, she said.

“Whatever it is, it’s not serious enough. We haven’t had as much a problem with it in the last few years,” Caughey said.

Education, regulation

Brandau, of the KBI, said it’s important to use education and regulation to curb prescription-drug abuse among young people.

“If we could stop the problem without law enforcement getting involved we’d love it. It only makes sense, really,” he said.

A governor-appointed task force that studied the issue has drafted a bill that would create a prescription-drug monitoring program for pharmacists and practitioners to check on a secure Web site. It’s aimed at preventing someone from going to several doctors and emergency rooms in hopes of stocking up on prescriptions.

Kansas is one of 15 states without such a program, and federal leaders want every state to have one by 2010, Brandau said. The monitoring program may target more of an adult population than teenagers, but it’s a start, he said.

State Sen. Vicki Schmidt, R-Topeka, who is a pharmacist, said she was still seeking co-sponsors on the monitoring program bill and plans to introduce it this week.