New School Curriculum Addresses Rx and OTC ...( WASHINGTON Dec. 12 --- A new sch...),Health

WASHINGTON, Dec. 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --- A new school curriculum that counters abuse of prescription and over-the-counter drugs was the topic of conversation at a press conference today in Washington, D.C. The curriculum is comprised of components for students as well as presentations for parents. This curriculum was created by D.A.R.E. America (Drug Abuse Resistance Education), with the support and expertise of law enforcement officials; the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA); Abbott; the Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA); and a number of other organizations, including the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administrations' Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (SAMHSA/CSAT) and the Partnership for a Drug-Free America (the Partnership).

According to the 2005 Partnership Attitude Tracking Survey conducted by the Partnership, while the abuse of illegal drugs is on the decline, statistics on teen abuse of legal drugs show a disturbing trend:

-- One in three teens reports having a close friend who abuses prescription pain relievers to get high.

-- One in four has a close friend who abuses over-the-counter (OTC) cough medicine to get high.

-- Nearly one in five teens has used a prescription medication that was not prescribed to them.

While the abuse of illegal drugs is on the decline, SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use and Health shows that teen abuse of legal drugs is on the rise:

-- In 2006, one in ten kids between the ages of 12 to 17 had used illicit drugs in the past month, including 3.3 percent who had used prescription drugs for non-medical reasons.

-- Among youth between the ages of 12 to 17, male and female adolescents had similar rates of past mont
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