PORTSMOUTH - A 14-year-old Portsmouth High School student was arrested and charged with possessing and distributing prescription drugs on the school's campus Monday. The following day, another PHS student was arrested and charged with driving under the influence of prescription drugs.

"I have seen quite a bit of it," said School Resource Officer Corey MacDonald. "So many people today are medicated, so kids can go home and find drugs in their medicine cabinets, then take them to school and sell them for $6 to $10 a pill."

Monday's PHS arrest was made at 9:59 a.m., when MacDonald took custody of the teen girl and charged her with drug possession, unlawful dealing in prescription drugs and possession and use of tobacco products by a minor.

Portsmouth Police Capt. Janet Champlin said the teen was in possession of Trazadone. According to the manufacturer, that medication is prescribed for the treatment of insomnia and chronic pain syndromes, and acts as a sedative.

MacDonald said the student gave Trazadone to a classmate, who had a negative reaction, and that neither had a valid prescription.

"Whether you're an adult or a juvenile, if you have prescription drugs in your possession and you give the pills to someone else, that's distributing," said Champlin.

The PHS student will be summonsed to juvenile court, which conducts confidential hearings. Champlin said the penalty for the charges in this case will likely be imposed with an eye toward rehabilitation, as opposed to punishment.

Arrested was Elliott Bell, 18, of 262 Fox Point Road, Newington, who Champlin said was pulled over by police on Andrew Jarvis Drive as he was leaving high school grounds.

"It is alleged that he was intoxicated due to a prescription drug that was not prescribed to him," said Champlin. "Driving while intoxicated is drugs or alcohol."

As officers attempted to take Bell into custody, he struggled, leading to the resisting arrest charge, said Champlin. He was arraigned Tuesday in Portsmouth District Court and released on $800 personal recognizance bail.

MacDonald said that because prescription drugs are not illicit, they don't have the same stigma as other abused drugs, like cocaine and heroin. So, he added, some high school students think they can grab some of their mother's pills and make some quick cash, and they believe they're not drug dealers.

"These kids are medicated by doctors anyway," said MacDonald. "So many of them are on attention deficit medication. And then they toss in other medications and they don't know what the reaction can be."

MacDonald's primary advice for combating prescription drug abuse is for parents to throw out old prescriptions.

"When you have kids, it's really dangerous to have them," he said.

A 1995 PHS graduate, MacDonald said he doesn't recall any of his classmates abusing prescription drugs.

"It was weed and beer," he said. "And that was a big deal."

Prescription drug abuse is increasing, said Jeff Brown, chief of the Seabrook Fire Department and cousin of 17-year-old Lloyd Chapin Jr., a Winnacunnet High School student who died Feb. 3 of a prescription drug overdose.

The abuse of prescription drugs is a problem throughout the region, said Brown.

Since Nov. 1, Seabrook Fire Department ambulances have responded to eight overdose calls involving 14- to 25-year-olds, said Brown. The overdoses have been from alcohol, drugs, or both.

"The type of call is not just the run-of-the-mill overdose. Now, they're life-threatening," said Brown. "This is a community problem, not just in Seabrook."

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