Falls School District Superintendent Don Langan said that he does not have any hard evidence that prescription drug abuse is widespread in the Falls schools; and the recent ambulance transport of a Falls High School student to the local hospital after ingesting a controlled substance was the first incident of its kind he has witnessed. After improperly taking a prescription medication provided on school grounds by another student, the 18-year-old male reportedly experienced traumatic effects.
Langan said that he became especially concerned about the issue after the recent incident crystallized the reality of the problem in his mind.
“It would be foolish on my part to take the position that we don’t have an issue,” he continued, noting that state and national trends suggest the issue is becoming more commonplace. “It’s a growing problem.”
He suspected that the Falls schools are like many other schools in the state and nation that are seeing an increase in these types of events. Indeed, within days of the FHS incident, suspensions and law enforcement referrals of students at the Indus School occurred after staff became aware that a prescription drug was being passed between students.
“Misuse and abuse of prescription drugs, either by the prescription holder or by those who obtain them through other sources, is a major concern for law enforcement and for people who deal with adolescents like we do in the schools,” Langan said.
He added that while smaller groups of teachers, faculty and students have had conversations about prescription drugs after the recent incident in the school, there has not been any focused conversation at the school dealing with the topic.
He explained that the quick, impromptu dialogue among those in the community, “denotes that there was a certain level of awareness of the problem that this can create.”
“Illicit street drugs are still very much there,” Langan said. “But the more dangerous growth trend is with prescription drugs. The prescription drug issue is growing at a faster rate than illicit street drugs.
“The abuse of prescription drugs is far more insidious than the abuse of illicit street drugs. For every street drug, there are probably 50 prescription drugs that can be equally dangerous when abused.
“There is a pretty clear set of facts on street drugs,” he added, noting a “huge array of potentially dangerous situations” arise when young people abuse prescription drugs. He said the observation pattern for prescription drug abuse, and especially in combination with multiple substances, can make detection and medical help challenging.
“We have become as a culture over the last two to three decades more reliant and dependent on pharmaceuticals,” Langan said.
The Falls High School policy for medication, per the 2008-2009 student handbook states, “School personnel are not allowed to dispense over-the-counter medication to students. The school nurse will assist students who must take prescribed medication regularly during school hours. A consent form signed by a health care provider and parent is needed.”
But Langan notes that, “There is the opportunity with the awareness of the school nurse that older kids can self-medicate.”
He said that many of these self-medicating students are not bypassing the school policy to cause harm to themselves or others, but instead because they feel, “I know what I’m doing” and don’t want to take the extra step of involving the school nurse.
“With 500 adolescents, it’s foolish to think that no one bypasses the rule,” he said.
The Littlefork-Big Falls and Indus school policy for students who have been prescribed medications is that no student will bring a medication to school without a written authorization from the doctor who prescribed it, as well as written permission from a parent. No medications may be taken on his or her own.
Parents are encouraged to try to find a medication schedule that allows their student to take a medication outside of school hours if at all possible, said Susan Palm, school nurse for both schools. If that isn’t possible, Palm takes control of the medication and dispenses it to the student at the proper time.
Littlefork-Big Falls School Superintendent Fred Seybert said he feels fortunate that the L-BF kindergarten through grade 12 have had no prescription drug problems. He said that the medication policy that L-BF enforces is in line with the Minnesota School Board Association’s guidelines.
Seybert said that awareness of the growing issue is important, and discussion brings the topic to the forefront.
He admits using exercise for his own anxiety, and adds: “Many issues could be handled better by working through it. Walk, exercise — that helps an awful lot,” he said.
Jennifer Alwin, new principal at the Indus School, said she sees the issue as an increasing problem.
Although it was virtually a non-issue in her 13 years as a teacher, her first weeks as Indus principal saw the school experiencing an incident of a prescribed sleeping medication given at school by one student to another. School suspensions and law enforcement referrals followed.
Alwin said she is in the process of determining an avenue for educating on an issue that is on the rise. She believes the topic needs awareness, but is also bothered that circulating information on prescription drugs may better inform teens on how to use them to get high.
