Drug Awareness Campaign

An awareness campaign on the dangers of overusing opioid such as Oxycontin has been launched in northern Ontario.

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health's “No Easy Way Out" project is directly aimed at young people.

Program Consultant Michelle Ott says the numbers of students using drugs for non-medical purposes is significant.

"Two per cent of the students across Ontario reported using non-medical Oxycontin," says Ott. "In northern Ontario that was 3.2 per cent."

Ott says nearly three-quarters of those students reported taking the drugs from family members who were prescribed such medication.