The Growing Trend of Prescription Drug Abuse Among Youth

Mentor Foundation USA, the international organization that is focused on preventing drug abuse among youth, joined the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the Embassy of Sweden in observing National Drug Abuse Facts Day on Nov. 2, bringing together top scientists, parents, educators, counselors, community members and students to find ways to address the growing problem of prescription drug abuse by youth.

Speakers at the conference, which was held at the House of Sweden in Washington, included Dr. Robert L. DuPont, former head of NIDA and former Drug Czar; Dr. Wilson Compton of NIDA; David Mineta, deputy director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy; Cecilia Fant, Detective Inspector from the Swedish National Bureau of Investigation (who talked by telephone from Stockholm); Ken Winters, from the University of Minnesota; Jamila Sams from Mentor Foundation USA; and Sharon Brigner, deputy vice president for PhARMA