I was stunned as my pre-teen headed for the medicine cabinet, grabbed the ibuprofen, and began getting some out for herself. I was in shock because she didn’t ask. She had always asked before just taking it. When did it become a thing where she didn’t think she had to ask anymore?
Well, come to think of it, I don’t think we ever officially made it a rule or even really talked about it.
Realizing that I had not established some very basic prevention in my own home, I realized it was time to put some action into place.
Maybe you’re reading this and thinking, what is the big deal?
Well if I didn’t know what I do about prescription and OTC drug abuse I wouldn’t think it was a big deal either.
The fact of the matter is it is a big deal. Kids are curious by nature. Have you heard of a pharm party? A pharm party aka a salad party is a party in which kids raid the medicine cabinets in their homes, or grandparents’ homes, and they bring all the pills they can find and they toss them into a big bowl at the party. Then from there, they essentially play Russian roulette and take a random pill(s).
This is clearly dangerous to those of us who have been educated on the dangers of prescription drugs and OTC drugs being taken incorrectly. However, to a teen whose pre-frontal cortex (part of the brain responsible for decision making) is still developing, mixed in with their desire for risk taking, it may not sound as dangerous to them.
So, what can we do about this?
As parents we are on the frontline and there is actually quite a bit we can do to help prevent our teens from abusing prescription or OTC medications.
- Set clear rules and expectations when it comes to prescription and OTC medications. Make sure they know what those rules are and why. Even better if you get them involved in coming up with the rules.
- Educate your kids on the dangers. Talk to them about how doctors have to take many things into consideration before prescribing medication and that medication is prescribed very specifically both by type and amount for each individual patient. Tell them what could happen if someone took the wrong medicine.
- Discard your un-used medications in a safe disposal location. These locations can be found all throughout charlotte county.
- Lock up your medicines. By removing this possible temptation completely you don’t have to worry about them getting into your medicines out of curiosity. There are many different options in this area, and sometimes there are even free options you can get through local law enforcement, local health care facilities, or even drug prevention coalitions.
- Help your teen come up with a plan. If your teen ends up somewhere that someone is offering them a prescription medication or to abuse an OTC medication what should they do? What should they say? Can they call you? Can they call someone else? Remember it is really important for teens to save face with their friends, so while it may be easy to tell them they should just say no or that they don’t like it, they need to have a plan that is going to be comfortable for them to carry out.
For more information on preventing prescription and OTC drug abuse including safe disposal locations visit http://www.saferx.tips/safedisposal.html
by Jen Bernardi, Prevention Services Coordinator, Drug Free Charlotte County