How many Vicodin or oxycodone pills do you have left in your prescription bottle from the last time you had a need for short-term pain relief? Ah, don’t remember, do you? Most of us wouldn’t – doctors give us a prescription for 10 or 30 pills, we take them as needed until the pain becomes bearable then we save them “just in case” we ever need them again.
Did you know the fastest growing trend in teen drug abuse is prescription medications? Yep, those young ‘uns are smart cookies. They know where you keep your meds, and they know you won’t miss 1 or 2 or 5 pills with a street value between $20 – $40 each. It’s party money to them, and unknown to you.
So, what should a parent do? Here are a few tips to protect your family from prescription drug abuse and the peer pressure teens sometimes face with their friends:
- Many communities host periodic prescription drug “take back” programs. This means you take your unused or expired prescription medications to a designated drop-off location, and they’ll take it from there. Ask your local pharmacist about an upcoming event.
- Consider a safe for your medications, such as Rx Drug Safe, or build a locked cabinet specifically for this purpose.
- As you’ve heard many times before, “keep all medications out of reach of children,” meaning no low drawers or cabinets where little ones can easily reach.
- Consider random drug testing, following our Trust But Verify Program.
- Ask your physician to only prescribe enough pills to get you over the hurdle in managing your pain. Move to another over-the-counter pain reliever when you are able.
Parenting is hard, and today’s social environment doesn’t make it any easier. Help your teen and protect your meds.
