Two 12-year-olds face charges for allegedly selling sleeping pills at school
Getty Images/Tim Boyle
Whither the lemonade stand? Police in Philadelphia busted two 12-year-old boys for allegedly stealing prescription sleeping pills from a family member and selling them to classmates for $10 a piece.
A school official told KYW-TV that the boys didn't know what they were selling, but they confessed to consuming the Ambien pills themselves. One boy who the pair sold Ambien to was charged with possession of a controlled substance. While the incident is alarming, police said they believe it was an isolated occurrence.
Riverside Township Police Lt. Louis Fisher said while seeing a duo of 12-year-olds dealing drugs is a first, it signals a growing prescription drug problem. "The abuse of prescription drugs, the age is getting younger and younger all the time," he said.
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Jordan Valinsky is the lead writer for Speed Reads. Before joining The Week, he wrote for New York Observer's tech blog, Betabeat, and tracked the intersection between popular culture and the internet for The Daily Dot. He graduated with a degree in online journalism from Ohio University.
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