×

Initiative targets parents of middle, high school athletes

By Michael Erb

Special to the Times

PARKERSBURG –The West Virginia Attorney General’s Office is teaming with Wood County Schools to warn parents of the dangers of opioid addiction among middle- and high-school athletes.

Brooke Albright, consumer representative and compliance specialist with the attorney general’s office, spoke Tuesday to the Wood County Board of Education about an information blitz targeting area high schools.

“Our state and country are suffering from a substance abuse epidemic,” she said. “We are wanting to get information out to as many parents as possible.”

Albright said the attorney general’s office teamed with the West Virginia Board of Medicine and the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission to study the most common causes of addiction among West Virginia youth.

“The study showed a frightening link between sports injuries in middle and high school which can lead to opioid addiction which can lead to heroin addiction,” she said.

Student athletes often turn to prescription painkillers to manage pain from injuries. Those prescription pills can be expensive and difficult to acquire, she said.

“They end up switching to heroin because it’s so much cheaper,” Albright said.

According to the study:

* 28.4 percent of high school athletes use medical opioids at least once over a three-year period.

* 11 percent have used opioid medication for non-medical reasons.

*  Nearly 25 percent of students who chronically use prescription opioids also use heroin.

* 75 percent of high school heroin users began with prescription opioids.

Albright presented a flier which shows statistics from the study and urges parents to seek optional treatments for sports injuries, such as physical therapy, massage therapy, acupuncture or over-the-counter medications. Those fliers have been sent to area high schools, will be placed in locker rooms throughout the county, and will be handed out at upcoming sports events throughout Wood County.

“My goal is by the time Christmas comes around, every parent in Wood County will have seen this flier at least five times,” she said.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $4.15/week.

Subscribe Today