One in Six Kids Teens Abusing Prescription Drugs

If you think your kids are somehow immune to taking drugs, or think they're not likely to come into contact with them in their current environment, the new National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Monitoring the Future survey results may be a shock. One in six kids in grades 8, 10 and 12 have abused prescription drugs and over-the-counter medicines. Which means there's a very good chance one of those kids is yours or, at the very least, your kid knows someone who's taking them and is being invited, or pressured, to do the same.

Authorities are worried - not just because of the potential for prescription drug addiction, the horrible side effects and physical, emotional and mental damage these drugs can do, and not just because the prescription drug-related overdose and death tolls are climbing.

The biggest problem is they are close to powerless when it comes to getting it under control.

One in Six Kids Teens Abusing Prescription Drugs

Why? Because, unlike the traditional War on Drugs, there is no enemy they can really target. They can't patrol borders, airports or harbors to watch for shipments of heroin or other drugs coming in by land, air or sea. They can't watch for unusual financial transactions in the banking system that may indicate money-laundering. They can't keep watch on buildings in which unusual activity has been reported to see if they have meth labs. They can't go to the seedy areas of the inner city and watch the action on the street and turn small-time offenders into informants that help them track and take down the big dealers.

In fact, almost all the usual things the government does to fight the War on Drugs don't apply with prescription drugs. There are prescription drug rings, it's true. But that's not where the majority of kids are getting the drugs. They're getting them from their parents' medicine cabinets or from their friends who got them from the same place.

Who's going to control this situation? The solution lies in the hands of parents, teachers, and grassroots community activities.
What does it take?

Realize that it really is a problem. It's nice to think your kids would never do drugs and it can seem disruptive to add the possibility into family life. Who wants to patrol their kids, question them, makes sure prescription drugs are under lock and key? It just doesn't fit with the home life we're trying to create. Nevertheless, we have to do it to keep our kids safe.

Educate your kids. One of the major reasons why kids are taking these drugs is because they really think they're safe. They came from a doctor, their parents (or friends' parents) took them and nothing bad happened. So what's the big deal? They just make you feel good. But they really are dangerous and deadly. Especially in the hands of kids who don't know a thing about them. You can discuss TV drug commercials - point out the side effects being talked about. Talk about stories in the news re celebs and drug rehab, and so on. Take every opportunity to educate your kids about drugs. Kids whose parents do that are 50% less likely to take them.

Patrol your kids. Get to know their friends and their friends' parents. Make sure other parents are aware of the problems with prescription drug abuse and ensure they're also educating their kids. Find out where the parties are and who they hang out with. Who else is going? Is the party supervised, and by whom? Talk to the person who is supervising the party to make sure they're also aware of the possibilities with prescription drugs.

Participate in your kids' lives. Have dinner with them a few times a week - believe it or not, that's one of the biggest deterrents to taking drugs - go to their school and extra-curricular sports practices and games, get them involved in those types of things so they're not hanging out wondering what to do with themselves, pay attention to how they're doing and do your best to help them quickly, get involved with their school work, meet their teachers, and make your house the place where they can invite their friends.

Prescription drug addiction and abuse is a very real problem. If we don't want our kids to end up in an addiction treatment center, or worse, we have to solve it. The good news? The parental involvement needed to fight this war on prescription drugs could make the family the bedrock of society it once was.

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