Partnership For A Drug-free New Jersey

In Cooperation With The Governor’s Council On Alcoholism & Drug Abuse

June 2008

According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), upwards of 9 million people use prescription medication for non-medical uses. The 2007 Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey (PDFNJ) Principals Survey found that half of the principals surveyed said that prescription drugs are abused more than twice that of ecstasy and cocaine by New Jersey Middle School students.

What is equally disturbing is that 44% of New Jersey parents of Middle School Students said they know a little or just about nothing about prescription drug abuse, according to the 2007 PDFNJ Parents Tracking Survey.

But, perhaps most alarming is that the PDFNJ 2007 Drug Testing in Schools Study found that 30% of Middle School students, in New Jersey, said that using prescription drugs not prescribed to you “does not have any real health consequences or have only mild health consequences, but they’re not serious or too long lasting.”

To address this alarming trend, PDFNJ has launched a multi-media prescription drug abuse campaign entitled “Grandma’ s Stash” bringing focus on the fact that 70% of all people who abused prescription pain relievers got them from friends or relatives.

For More Information On This Growing Menace, Click On The Link Below.

In Partnership For A Drug-Free New Jersey