Thirty-five fifth grade students at Meadowbrook Elementary School received certificates of graduation Friday from the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE), a police officer-led series of classroom lessons that teaches children from kindergarten through 12th grade how to resist peer pressure and live productive drug and violence-free lives.

Eddie Singleton, a 30-year police officer with the Waynesville Police Department, spent several weeks at Meadowbrook, talking to boys and girls about how to say no to drugs and alcohol, while offering advice on making positive choices.

“Peer pressure is the single worst problem, but you have learned how to stay in charge and how to develop the right kind of friendships,” Singleton reminded the students.

Tracey Truesdale, pharmacy manager at Haywood Regional Medical Center, spoke about the dangers of prescription and over-the-counter medications. While they have therapeutic uses, even medications typically able to be bought over-the-counter, such as cough and cold remedies, have the potential for abuse, she said.

“Legal drugs, when used incorrectly, can be just as addictive and just as harmful as the illegal drugs you’ve learned about,” Truesdale told the students.

The danger of commonly used medications includes over-sedation, stomach bleeds, and even death. An allergic reaction can result in rashes, hives, throat closing, skin peeling away, or death, she said.

“Medications should only be used by the person for whom they are prescribed and for the appropriate reasons,” Truesdale said.

Abuse of prescription or over-the-counter drugs usually has two outcomes —  prison or death —  she warned.

Parents, grandparents and other adults need to make every attempt to make these medications less accessible to their children, Truesdale said.  Dispose of medications that are no longer needed or are expired, and lock up currently used medications, she said.

Brody Mack and Britney Owenby were winners of an essay contest. Owenby’s essay encouraged her classmates to “be smart and don’t start; while Mack vowed in her essay to use the strategies Singleton taught during the DARE classes.

“A lot of kids will make the wrong decisions, but I won’t,” Mack said.

Brandon Smith, 10, received the annual Tommy Green award, an honor for the outstanding DARE student. Tommy Green served as a police officer for Canton prior to his sudden death caused by an aneurism. Green loved young people and had expressed an interest of working with the DARE program, Singleton said.

“DARE is a great program. Hopefully our students have learned some things they will use the rest of their lives,” said Meadowbrook Principal Travis Collins.