TWO KANAWHA HIGH STUDENTS DEAD OVER DRUG TAKING - Two More Hospitalized

(12/02/2005)
Two Kanawha County high school students have died from "dabbling" with prescription drugs and two others have been hospitalized this week.

Popping prescription drugs, often obtained from family members, then traded or sold, is not an infrequent event for students in both rural and urban sections of the state, sometimes mixed with over-the-counter drugs that can be used for a "buzz."

Often they are snorted, but sometimes taken by mouth. All can be dangerous.

Last week, 16-year-old Abby K. Young, a junior at St. Albans High, died in her sleep after allegedly taking morphine pills during a Thanksgiving party.

Justin Tyler Garnet, 16, died Tuesday after he apparently ingested a gelatinous form of a narcotic called fentanyl.

Yesterday, two St. Albans High School students were being treated for prescription drug abuse at Highland Hospital.

One of the hospitalized students was a friend of Justin Tyler Garner.