Milwaukee-area high school students are spending time inside the classroom this summer. They are learning the science behind opioids.

They studied how the chemistry in our bodies change before, during, and after taking opioids.

One student says that this is just step one to learning why opioids are becoming such a problem.

"Everybody knows that when you take a drug you get high, why do you get high? What goes on in your body? I never learned those things but coming here I learned these things, and I don't even think I would have learned it in school," said Janani Sundar, a junior at Brookfield Central High.

Nearly 2 dozen students participated in the 5-week program at MSOE. Teachers say they hope the class will return next summer.