ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- A health study shows high school students in western North Carolina are more likely to abuse prescription drugs than students in other parts of the state.

The 2007 Risk Behavior Survey shows about 25 percent of western North Carolina high school students said they have used prescription medicine such as Oxycontin and Percocet for recreational use.

The Asheville Citizens-Times reports that compares with 17 percent of students from the central and eastern part of North Carolina.

An Erwin High School student, 17-year-old Matthew Chapman, died earlier this month after placing two fentanyl painkiller patches on each arm and drinking alcohol.

Sales of prescription painkillers have more than doubled in western North Carolina over an eight-year period.