Seventeen-year-old Cyrus Stowe saw a dangerous trend happening at his Dallas high school. His classmates were abusing prescription drugs and nobody was talking about it. So Cyrus decided to expose the problem by making a documentary.
His film, "Out of Reach" was made in collaboration with director Tucker Capps (of A&E's "Intervention") and the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids' Medicine Abuse Project. You can watch the powerful trailer above, which offers a no-frills, raw look at the jarring realities of teen drug use.
This morning, Cyrus' project was spotlighted on the "Today" show as part of a larger investigation on teen prescription drug abuse. Cyrus told NBC special reporter Maria Shriver about some of the frightening trends he uncovered while making the film.
“What we found out was we'd go into the restroom and students right before a test would go into a stall, pop an Adderall, sometimes snort it, and trade more hard drugs like Oxycontin, Hydrocodone, and just take them as if it was vitamin C," he said.
The experiences Cyrus documents are sadly all too common amongst teens today. Twenty-four percent of U.S. high school students -- some 5 million kids -- said they had abused prescription drugs in a survey released last year by The Partnership at Drugfree.org, in conjunction with the MetLife Foundation.
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