FOND DU LAC, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – When Fond du Lac High School senior Emily Furman saw the risks of prescription drug abuse, she joined a group called ‘Students Raise Awareness on Prescription Misuse’, also known as STAAND.
Furman told FOX 11…
“I personally know a lot of people that have suffered through drugs and its negative consequences.”
She explains what the group is all about
“STAAND is a group of students at the high school and we’re basically the voice of a drug free community and we raise awareness.”
The group sent letters to parents encouraging them to talk to their children.
Emily Brooks also attends Fond du Lac High School.
Brooks told FOX 11, “We are doing a Kahoot and emailing our principal drug facts so he can say them over the announcement.”
Several posters were put around the building to bring awareness, many include facts that shatter myths about drug abuse and include both national and local statistics of Fond du Lac youth.
One poster read, “Myth: Most drugs are acquired through a drug dealer. Fact: Most teens who abuse prescription drugs get them from friends or relatives, sometimes without them knowing.”
Last year, 8th, 10th and 11th grade students were surveyed.
In that survey, when asked about the previous 30 days, five percent of students admitted to using prescription drugs that were not prescribed to them.
Ellen Sorensen with the Drug Free Communities of Fond du Lac says….
“A lot of addiction issues or non-medical issues come from sharing prescription drugs, many people don’t understand that it’s illegal to share prescription drugs.”
Sorensen is urging people to dispose the medicine they no longer need, preventing anyone else from getting their hands on it.
There are drug drop boxes set up at police stations around Northeast Wisconsin.
