Prescription Drug Use and Teens: Lock Your Meds

'I got my hair from my mom.'
'I got my eyes from my dad.'
'And my drugs from my grandma's medicine cabinet.'


More than 3.1 million teens ages 12 to 17 report abusing prescription drugs. Click here for guidelines for prescription drug abuse prevention and discuss them with your family and friends.

The target audience for Lock Your Meds™ is 20-80-year-old adults, with the primary focus on keeping prescription and over-the-counter pharmaceuticals away from drug abusers.  Many adults may be unwitting suppliers and by making adults aware of the problem we can curb the abuse by others.

YOU HOLD THE KEY TO YOUR CHILD'S DRUG-FREE FUTURE

Review the following guidelines for prescription drug abuse prevention and discuss them with family & friends

LOCK YOUR MEDS
Prevent your children from abusing your own medication by securing your meds in places your child cannot access.
TAKE INVENTORY
Download your Home Medicine Inventory Card, write down the name and amount of medications you currently have and regularly check to see that nothing is missing.  
EDUCATE YOURSELF & YOUR CHILDLearn about the most commonly abused types of prescription medications (pain relievers, sedatives, stimulants and tranquilizers). Then, communicate the dangers to your child regularly; once is not enough.
SET CLEAR RULES & MONITOR BEHAVIOR
Express your disapproval of using prescription drugs without a prescription. Monitor your child's behavior to ensure that the rules are being followed.
PASS IT ON
Share your knowledge, experience and support with the parents of your child's friends. Together, you can create a tipping point for change and raise safe, healthy and drug-free children.

Source: Informed Families of South Florida

Be an educated parent, you will have safer teens.

Do you have a teen that you suspect is using drugs? Have you exhausted all your local resources? Take the time to learn about residential therapy, visit www.HelpYourTeens.com. Each teen and family are unique, there are many teen help programs, knowing how to locate the one best for you can be a challenge, however Parents’ Universal Resource Experts in Broward County, can help, starting with a free consultation.

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Teen Drug Slang: Decoding Your Teen Talk

2011 is a time when parenting and social media collide on many levels.  However there is also a new list of terms that teens are using to mask their activities – especially substance use.


Bridge the communication gap and learn the slang terms that teens use for Rx drug use. Is your child an “all star?” You may be tempted to say yes, but this term doesn’t refer to team sports or academic success. An “all star” is a person taking multiple drugs.

DIRECTIONS: Every generation has their slang, but the lingo today’s teenagers use could mean something dangerous if they are abusing prescription or over-the-counter (OTC) drugs. For example, you go “fishig” for salmon or trout, they go “phishing” for pharmaceuticals.

Words that sound innocent to your ears may have another meaning on the street. Read the “hints” and then see if you can guess the drug culture’s definition of these common words or expressions.

Learn more about slang terms – click here.

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Medicine Cabinets and Your Teens: Good Meds, Bad Behavior

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Parenting teens.  Is there a job more challenging today?


From text lingo that can make you blush, to sex language that turns your stomach, there is no denying it - raising teenagers in today's techno and substance abuse generation is a struggle to keep up with.

Who would have thought that today's medicine cabinet could potentially be a danger zone?

Cough medicine abuse is a situation of 'good medicines, bad behavior.' The fact of the matter is that teen cough medicine abuse does not happen by accident; it involves intentionally taking large amounts of medication to get high. The ingredient in over-the-counter (OTC) cough medicines that teens are abusing is dextromethorphan, or DXM. While DXM-containing medicines are safe and effective when used as directed, they can be dangerous when abused in large amounts.

The makers of OTC cough medicines containing DXM have introduced an educational icon on their medicines’ packages. The icon helps raise awareness about the teen abuse of cough medicines and provides the StopMedicineAbuse.org website as a resource for more information. It also provides a great conversation starter with your teens about cough medicine abuse.

StopMedicineAbuse.org created Home to Homeroom Digest with valuable information about what today's teenagers are using and how to help prevent drug abuse.  Education is the key to prevention and this website is full of priceless articles, tips and resources to help you be an educated parent.

Read more.