Prescription Drug Abuse - A Growing Trend Among Teens

Just when we're starting to feel a little safer about so-called "street drugs," heroin, cocaine, crystal meth and the like, that their use among teens is diminishing, we're ripped out of our comfort zone and confronted with a new enemy; prescription drugs. Legal drugs.

Yes, the medicines that we keep in our medicine cabinet, and the prescription pills that we carry in our purses prescribed by our physicians for whatever ailment we're suffering from, are now being lifted right out from under our noses by our teens.

Consider these statistics from SAMHSA (Substance Abuse And Mental Health Services Administration).

More than 1 in 10 teens (or 2.8 million) have abused prescription drugs in their lifetimes according to SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
1 in 3 teens report knowing someone who abuses prescription drugs according to the Partnership for a Drug-Free America's 2007 Partnership Attitude Tracking Study.
1 in 3 teens surveyed says there is "nothing wrong" when using prescription drugs "every once and (sic) awhile." according to the Partnership for a Drug-Free America's 2007 Partnership Attitude Tracking Study.
Every day, 2,700 teens abuse a prescription drug for the first time according to SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
8 out of 10 teens who misuse prescription drugs get the drugs from friends or relatives through a number of means including stealing, buying or simply asking for the drugs according to the Partnership for a Drug-Free America's 2007 Partnership Attitude Tracking Study.
This is pretty scary stuff. We use prescription drugs without giving them much thought. We take them in front of our children. If we have a headache we pop an aspirin or a "pain pill" prescribed by our doctor.

There is nothing wrong with the above. There are legitimate reasons for taking pills. No one wants to be in pain and no one should. But what we don't realize is the silent message that we're sending to our kids - taking pills makes us feel better.

Unfortunately our children don't think as rationally as adults and they may translate taking a pill for pain to taking a pill just to feel good. The pills are legal and parents use them, ergo, they must not be as harmful as other illegal drugs. This is dangerous thinking.

Parents need to sit down with their children now and explain the dangers of taking pills for recreational use. Whether they're taking cocaine or the other hard drugs or prescription pills it doesn't matter - they're still taking drugs solely to get high and they don't understand the possible deadly consequences.

Some teens throw "pharm" parties - each kid bringing some pills, putting them in a bowl, mixing them around, and then swallowing a few pills or sometimes swallowing a handful. They're ingesting uppers and downers together - a deadly combination.

I urge every parent to take this new threat seriously. Keep track of your pills, how many you should have and keep them locked away safely. online pharmacy no prescription needed

Don't wait until the police are knocking at your door. Remember, it's never too early to speak to your children about drugs but it can be too late.

Sheryl Letzgus McGinnis is the author of three (3) books on drugs and addiction. Her children's book - The Addiction Monster and the Square Cat is consistently on Amazon.com's Best Sellers List in Substance Abuse. She writes numerous articles on drugs and addiction both for online sites and print publications.