Students using drugs in school becoming a bigger problem

JONES COUNTY, Miss. (WDAM) - Statistically, schools are seeing more students using drugs, including schools in Jones County.

“Just two weeks ago, we arrested a student at a local high school who had 11 hydrocodone pills in his possession at that school,” Jones County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Jake Driskell said. ‘‘Course, he was over the age of 18, so he was arrested and charged as an adult and that’s just here locally.”

Driskell oversees narcotics at the sheriff’s department and he said pills are just one of the different drugs students are using.

“Right now, we’re seeing a lot of THC additives, some CBDs, other things like that. They’re going and vapes.”

So far, fentanyl hasn’t been seen in schools yet, but law enforcement said there is a drug with a similar effect.

“We have seen substances in vapes that put off almost a opioid-style high if you will, where it leaves them comatose or knocks them out or suppresses their breathing a little bit,” Driskell said. “But nothing to the level of fentanyl.”

Deputies say it’s becoming easier for kids to get access to drugs, and that social media and cell phones can make matters worse.

Sgt. Driskell said parents need to know what’s happening in their kids’ lives.

“You’ve got to check their phones, see what their friends are saying, things like that,” Driskell said. “That’s just being a good parent, that’s not violating their privacy or anything like that. That’s just being a good parent, just to make sure they’re on the right path.”

Jones County deputies are encouraging parents to have more conversations with their kids to make sure they know the risks and consequences of using drugs.

Want more WDAM 7 news in your inbox? Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.

Copyright 2023 WDAM. All rights reserved.