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Jacksonville lab seeing increase in number of parents testing teens for opioids

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A local lab is seeing an increase in the number of parents testing their teens for opioids. That includes drugs such as heroin and commonly abused prescription drugs such as fentanyl and oxycodone.

Action News Jax first  told you last week about the report from the Centers for Disease Control that shows those drugs are involved in more than 70 percent of overdose deaths.

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Mark Griffiths, the owner of Any Lab Test Now, said out of every 10 high schoolers he sees a week, at least two are testing positive. He is seeing a rise in the presence of opioids, specifically heroin, in the system of young people.

"The results stay with the parents. It doesn't get out. It's not on their school record. It's not on their medical record," said Griffiths.

Griffiths said most parents don't know that the lab can test hair follicles and that fingernail tests can detect drug use as far back as six months.

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