HURRICANE - It pays for Hurricane High School students to wear their 24-7 Club wristbands and to carry their membership cards.

About once a month Principal Dick Campbell announces early dismissal from class, either at lunchtime or the end of the day, for those wearing the wristband.

"They like that. There's a flurry of signups whenever he does that," club sponsor Heather Reed said.

Since Campbell proposed the club in the fall of 2008 and biology teacher Reed volunteered to sponsor the anti-drug abuse organization, more than 200 students have joined.

Most attend the monthly noon-hour meetings in her classroom, Reed said.

"I have a small room; it's often wall-to-wall," she said.

Occasionally she brings in speakers, but the meeting may be as simple as a pizza party.

"It's supposed to be a rewards club. We try to have fun at the meetings," Reed said.

And there are other rewards. A teacher may extend a homework deadline for members wearing the 24-7 wristband. Outside the school, participating merchants offer discounts, such as reduced movie admission, to students displaying the membership card.

The price of membership? A pledge to remain drug free 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year and to back it up by agreeing in writing to random drug screening.

Campbell brought the concept with him to Putnam County after his experience while vice principal at St. Albans High School. Responding to the 2005 overdose deaths of two students in off-hours, the community backed the club.

But prescription drug abuse is a problem across the state, including Putnam County, say Campbell, county officials and students like Hurricane High junior Lila Mangus, who is 24-7 Club president this school year.