AHS Views

The new National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) monitoring the future survey was released yesterday. It’s a survey of kids in grades 8, 10 & 12 about their drug use. I don’t know how many kids who were asked if they take drugs denied it, but over 15% said they’ve abused prescription and over-the-counter drugs. One out of six – scary.

An article on JoinTogether.com made the point that authorities think the prescription drug abuse trend is going to be a hard trend to fight since most kids get them from their family and friends. 40% said they take their parents’ old prescription drugs that are still in the medicine cabinet. It’s not the usual place police would look for illegal activity.

While this is no surprise to us – it will probably shock parents. I would hope it will be enough of a shock to get rid of those drugs one way or another.

But prescriptions are expensive. There’s a tendency to hang onto them in case you need them again.  In that case, the best thing to do is lock them up.

Parents should realize that if one in six kids is doing this – their own kids are going to come in contact with them. There’s no guarantee they’ll refuse the drugs when offered.

Many a good family, with good kids who are apparently happy and doing well in life, find themselves needing addiction help for their son or daughter. These days, more kids are likely to experiment with prescription drugs than marijuana or any illegal drug.

Keep an eye on your kids, and talk to them about the dangers of prescription drug addiction and all the horrible side effects – including overdose and death – and if they need help, contact Addiction Help Services to find a program that works for your situation.