Montgomery County Council To Discuss Drug Issues In Schools

Three different Montgomery County Council committees will meet later this morning to discuss drug issues in the county school system.

The council's health and human services, public safety, and education committees will meet this morning in Rockville to look at the school system's drug prevention, intervention, and education programs. 

Earlier this year, angered parents swamped council budget hearings decrying the lack of attention given to rising drug abuse among county teens, particularly in Damascus.

A similar hearing was held in April, where both police and residents admitted part of the problem was getting people to acknowledge there was a problem. In particular, many of the residents were angry with the school system for not being proactive on the issue. 

Separate community meetings were held in May at Damascus High School to focus on the rising abuse of prescription painkillers. Residents say the habit has led some kids to become addicted to heroin, because it's a cheaper alternative to expensive prescription drugs such as OxyContin. 

At one of those meetings, county board of education member Michael Dursoe admitted the school system had been secretive about the dug abuse problem because school leaders didn't know how to address it.