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Middle school student sells his prescription medicine to classmates
Middle school student sells his prescription medicine to classmates
Story by Amy Speer
May 19, 2004
A 14-year-old Windsor Middle School student took his prescription medicine to
school and sold pills to at least 10 other students.
The male teen sold 30 milligram pills of Adderall for $2.50 a piece, according
to Windsor police reports.
Adderall, a stimulant, is used for the treatment of narcolepsy, obesity and
attention deficit hyperactive disorder. According to police reports, the
student was taking Adderall for ADHD.
Names of the students involved cannot be released because of their age and
nature of the crimes.
The sales happened over a period of three days, May 10-12, with the first sale
happening on a school bus, according to reports. Some of the students told
police they took the pills.
A police investigation will continue with the Weld District Attorney's Office
to determine charges. Distribution of a controlled substance is a felony. By
law, the only person listed on the prescription can ingest the pills.
The students will also face disciplinary action by the school, Windsor Re-4
Superintendent Brian Lessman said. The student who distributed the drug may
face expulsion, with those in possession of the prescription facing five-day
suspensions.
"This is a concern at any level," Lessman said. "Obviously, we want kids to be
safe, and being safe doesn't mean messing around with prescription drugs. While
this drug wasn't illegal, it certainly is an illicit drug. The message we want
to get to kids is protect your medications."
Lessman said the incident appears to be an isolated one.
"There is nothing related to this specific incident that would tell me that
this is anything more than a random occurrence," Lessman said. "But we need to
deal with it, so it stays that way."
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, this kind of drug abuse
isn't isolated -- it's a nationwide problem.
An estimated 9 million people age 12 and older used prescription drugs for
nonmedical reasons in 1999; more than a quarter of that number reported using
prescription drugs nonmedically for the first time in the previous year.
Ritalin, another prescription drug used for ADHD treatment, has been abused by
middle and high school students and among middle and upper-middle class
communities in Baltimore, Boston, Detroit, Minneapolis and Phoenix, the drug
abuse agency said.
Some of the Windsor Middle School students told police officers they asked
their 14-year-old classmate to bring more pills the next day.
"This is behavior we cannot condone at any level," Lessman said.
Windsor Tribune reporter Nikolaus Olsen contributed to this report.
ABOUT ADDERALL
The prescription drug Adderall contains amphetamine and dextroamphetamine,
which are stimulants. Stimulants enhance brain activity, causing an increase in
alertness, attention and energy that is accompanied by elevated blood pressure
and increased heart rate and respiration. Abuse of Adderall and other
amphetamine drugs, like Dexedrine, can produce behavioral psychological effects
similar to cocaine. Drugs containing methylphenidate, such as Ritalin and
Concerta, also produce similar reactions.
These amphetamines are classified as a Schedule II controlled substance, a
classification given to medical drugs with one of the highest abuse potential
and dependence profiles. Schedule II drugs require greater storage security and
have a quota on manufacturing, among other restrictions. They are available
only by prescription.
Historically, stimulants were used to treat asthma and other respiratory
problems, obesity, neurological disorders, and a variety of other ailments. But
as their potential for abuse and addiction became apparent, the medical use of
stimulants began to wane.
-- National Institute on Drug Abuse and www.whatmeds.com