ARKANSAS — Statistics related to Arkansas teens and abuse of prescription drugs in Arkansas:

◊Arkansas is among states with the highest rates of nonmedical use of pain relievers among 12- to 25-year-olds. (U. S. Department of Health and Human Services)

◊22 percent of Arkansas high school students say they’ve abused prescription drugs by the time they’re seniors. (Arkansas Present Needs Assessment, 2008)

◊1 in 3 teens reports knowing someone who abuses prescription drugs. (Partnership for A Drug Free America)

◊62 percent of teens believe most teens get drugs from their parents’ medicine cabinets and 63 percent of teens believe drugs are easy to get from their parents’ medicine cabinets, up from 56 percent last year. (2009 Partnership Attitude Tracking Study)

◊1 in 5 teens share their prescription drugs with friends. (Join Together, August 24, 2009).

◊The Saline County Sheriff’s Operation Medicine Cabinet, a program to take back unwanted or unused prescription drugs, gathered nearly 52,000 pills in eight hours back in February.

◊33 percent of teens think “there’s nothing wrong” with using prescription drugs every once in a while. (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)

◊Girls are more likely than boys to intentionally misuse prescription medicine to get high. (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)

-Column provided by University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Extension Service

News, Pages 8 on 03/10/2010