A danger in your cabinet

Did you realize you might have prescription medication around your house that could be an issue of addiction and danger for your teen?! 1 in 5 teens has abused prescription pain relievers in their lifetime.

The University of Michigan did a new study that found, "10.4 % of the teens and young adults treated in the emergency room for any reason admitted to misusing a prescription painkiller or sedative at least once in the last year." These findings include taking drugs prescribed to someone else, taking more 
than the prescribed dosage, or simply taking them to get high. source


In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated that 100 deaths per day, and around 700,000 emergency department (ED) visits per year, result from prescription drug overdoses. source


Why are teens doing this?

• 12 reasons teens use RX drugs: 

62%: Easy to get from parent's medicine cabinets

52%: Available everywhere

51%: They are not illegal drugs

50%: Easy to get through other people's prescriptions

49%: Can claim to have prescription if caught

43%: They are cheap

35%: Safer to use than illegal drugs

33%: Less shame attached to using

32%: Easy to purchase over the internet

32%: Fewer side effects than street drugs

25%: Can be used as study aids

21%: Parents don't care as much if caught

Where are teens getting prescription medicine?

• "65 percent of teens are getting them from friends, family and acquaintances. Some teens share Rx medicines among themselves handing out or selling their own pills or those they’ve acquired or stolen from classmates."  source

What are the risks?

• The are several obvious risks which have short and long-term effects.  Some of these include: dependency, addiction, overdosing and mixing Rx medicine with over-the counter medicine and/or alcohol.

Obviously, this is a very serious and growing concern.  It's important to be informed, understand the signs, risks and communicate with teens about this issue.

For those who are local to Northwest Indiana, you can check here for local prescription drug drop-off locations so that unused medication does not get into the wrong hands. 

Want to learn more? Go to www.pathblazer.org/ATIC2014