PPI class holds drug awareness campaign

This week, from Jan. 22-Jan. 26, MHS’s Positive Peer Influence class, more commonly known as PPI, is holding a campaign against prescription drug abuse to spread awareness about the incorrect use of prescription drugs and the dangers that come from it.

This campaign is taking place at both MHS and also MMS, so that many more students can get the message from the campaign.

The campaign is focusing more on MMS than MHS, but at MHS a video about prescription drug abuse was shown during TFT Tuesday, Jan. 23.

At the middle school, PPI visited TFTs across the school on Tuesday and played a bingo fact game. PPI also gave surveys at the middle school to spread awareness about prescription drug abuse and the dangers that can come from it.

PPI wants to shine light on the problem of prescription drug abuse, and how it’s a bigger problem than many people believe it to be, due to the ease of access of prescription drugs in many places.

Junior Luke Anteau, a member of the PPI team, said, “I think this is incredibly important because not many people realize how dangerous prescription drug abuse really is and how easily some people can get access to them.”

Another member of PPI, senior Nicole Roof, said, “I think it will not only educate the students, but also give them reasons to say no, now or in the future.”

Anteau also said, “I’m hoping that this campaign is going to spread a lot more awareness about the very real dangers of prescription drug abuse.”

Junior Samantha Mushung said she thinks that the week gave a better understanding of why there’s such a problem and what to look out for in someone you might know who as an addiction or might be abusing prescription drugs,.

“What stuck out to me was how easily prescriptions can be given out to people who don’t necessarily need them,” Mushung said.