A woman has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison for dealing prescription drugs to a number of 17-year-old high school students in Blenheim.

Police say the 35-year-old introduced and sold Oxycodone Hydrochloride, prescribed to her for severe back pain, to the group of boys for up to ten dollars a pill.

They say she dealt at least 400 capsules between May and the end of September last year.

Some of the teenagers racked up debts of nearly $1000 each, dealing the pills to their friends to make money.

Police say emotional events in the teenagers' lives led to higher use of the addictive drug, resulting significant weight loss, lack of sleep, and depression.