Pharm Parties and Trail Mix, Not What You May Think
A continuing problem, but illicit drug use seems to have stabilized for the 12-17 year old age group. As the non-medical prescription painkiller and over the counter drug use rate increases for those aged 12 and older. Even though the use of illicit drugs may be stabilizing there are warnings on the abuse of prescription and over the counter drug use. Many teens claim to have gotten it for free from a friend or relative. What I understand there is a correlation between cost and use.
A few of the factors driving the teen abuse of medications are, there is a misperception that abusing “legal” medications is not harmful and the ease of access. Most of these drugs can be obtained at home, a friend’s house or on the Internet. I have always been an advocate for locking up all your at home medications, if not for your family members but for the friends of your family members that come into your home.
Here are a few links to help further your knowledge and protect your teens on the prescription drug abuse epidemic:
- Who Uses and Abuses Drugs and Alcohol?.
- Growing Teen Abuse of the little pink “herbal” Snurf Pills, that may be related to DMX
Experts Say Abuse of ‘Herbal’ Snurf Pills, Over-the-Counter Drugs Is Up in Young Teens - Know what your teens are talking about, the lingo for abusing prescription drugs, The Language of Prescription Drug Abuse
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Great analogy between when our kids were younger and we took great precautions to keep them from danger. Now that they are teens for some reason we “trust” they will use common sense, but sometimes seem to have less. I have a post on the blog about having teens is like having a two year old.
This is a really good reminder. When the kids were little we kept everything locked up especially after our youngest ate some iron pills his sister had left out, thinking they were M&Ms. Studly takes a lot of meds for his diabetes and heart issues and many of them would be fatal for a child.
We’ve been lax about it, though, since our own kids got big enough to understand that Mom’s and Dad’s meds were off limits. This article kind of makes me wonder about a time a few months ago when I was SURE we had some NyQuil in the house and I couldn’t find it at all. I guess it’s time to lock it all away or put it where the kids (ours and their friends!) can’t get to it without us knowing about it.
Thanks!