Colleyville, Texas August 30, 2017
a Guest Column by Elizabeth North
In the August/Sept Community Impact Newspaper, City & School column it states that during the GCISD 2016-17 school year 727 random drug tests were given to students. Out of 727 students tested, there were 11 students who tested positive for illegal substances and 33 who tested positive for legal substances. Marijuana was the No. 1 illegal substance used.
If 3 times as many students are taking legal drugs, why wasn’t the No. 1 legal substance considered as important, or more important, to disclose as the illegal substance? Also,what were the ages of the students tested?
Legal prescriptions such as stimulants, opiates and opiods are highly addictive and much more dangerous than marijuana. Violence and suicide from anti-depressants increase every year, alongside the increase in prescriptions. 1 in 8 Americans are on anti-depressants. Children as young as two years old are being prescribed anti-depressants! Between 2010 and 2016, opiod addiction increased 493%. More and more children of all ages are being prescribed Ritalin, which has numerous, documented, dangerous side effects. Many teens create their own ‘cocktails’, mixed with OTC medications from the corner drugstore and/or the home medicine cabinet. Some believe the War on Drugs is misplaced, and that there should be much more scrutiny on prescription drug efficacy and safety.
If we are going to report Numbers to Know, let’s report the important ones; the ones that impact the health and safety of everyone in our schools and communities.
Resources:
https://www.drugabuse.gov/drugs-abuse/emerging-trends-alerts
http://www.webmd.com/parenting/teen-abuse-cough-medicine-9/teens-and-dxm-drug-abuse
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2016/06/30/ssri-antidepressants-suicide-risk.aspx
http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/29/health/opioid-addiction-rates-increase-500/index.html
