SW addresses prescription drug abuse

By Dan Hust
LAKE HUNTINGTON — January 15, 2010 — Parents of Sullivan West students got a letter from SW Superintendent Ken Hilton in December warning them of alarming drug issues in the high school.
Now Hilton’s bringing District Attorney Jim Farrell to SW to spend an entire day talking about the dire consequences – physical, emotional, mental and legal – of illegal use of prescription drugs.
Farrell, who lives in the district and is the father of two SW students, will speak with students and faculty during the school day on January 20, said Hilton.
At 7 p.m. in the high school auditorium in Lake Huntington later that Wednesday, Farrell will offer a public forum on how to identify and respond to the issue. Everyone is invited.
Hilton cautioned that SW is not facing some sort of unique epidemic but is simply trying to be proactive in the face of growing misuse of prescription drugs.
“There’s always a risk in baring your problems,” he acknowledged. “I don’t want to alarm the public… but these are our kids.”
As he put it in the December letter to parents, “Taking drugs that are prescribed for others is a terrible mistake. And before any more kids are suspended from school, or any more kids are arrested by the police, or anyone is sickened, or worse yet, dies from taking potent drugs meant for others, we need to stop this dangerous practice.”