Prescription Drug Abuse Is A Growing Concern

The American College of Emergency Physicians has issued a warning to parents regarding the dangers that accompany prescription drug abuse. Prescription drug abuse is a growing concern because they are now the second most abused drugs, right behind marijuana. Dr. Angela Gardner, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians, said that, "Often when you hear that someone has overdosed on drugs you think of illegal substances, such as cocaine or heroin. But parents need to know that many young people are taking prescription drugs from the medicine cabinets. Many of the kids wrongly believe the drugs are not addictive, and they don't realize they can be lethal". Dr. Gardner is absolutely correct, many people who come into contact with prescription medicine are not aware of what the drug is capable of; this naivety plays a huge part in the number of overdoses each year.

In 2006, nearly three-quarters of a million people (741,425) needed emergency care as a result of prescription drug abuse. The drugs abused the most are pain killers, opiates like Oxycontin, Percocet, and Vicodin are the most commonly prescribed, but, they are many other pain killers that could be inside a parent's medicine cabinet. On top of pain killers, there are tranquilizers which are dangerous by themselves; mixing tranquilizers like Valium, Xanax, and Ativan with alcohol can be and often is a lethal combination. One could disagree with Dr. Gardner's statement that prescription drugs are only safe for the person they are prescribed for, only if they take the medicine as prescribed. Let's face it, you can take a medicine as prescribed and still wind up becoming dependent, it may take a little bit longer, but, sooner or later continued use will bring addiction. There are people who were prescribed morphine for 15 years, took the medicine as prescribed, and ended up having serious withdrawal symptoms when they stopped taking it. It doesn't matter how strong a narcotic is or whether you take the medicine as prescribed - narcotics are addictive.

Here are some warning signs that your child may be abusing prescription medications:

• Sudden changes in mood or personality
• Defensiveness
• Change in daily habits and appearance
• Usage increase
• Memory loss

Parents in New York Drug Test Their Kids

Parents in New York City and in other areas around the country have begun to drug test their kids. Home drug tests can be found at any pharmacy in the United States for a reasonable price. Discovering that there is a drug problem early can make a huge difference regarding how severe a drug problem gets. The quicker the problem is recognized the sooner it can be addressed; many drug addicts go undetected, by the time a problem is realized the addiction has gone completely out of control. It is for this reason that there are many adolescent drug treatment facilities available for parents to consider sending their children to for treatment.

Teenage years are the most critical years, the more drugs that are consumed in those years means the more developmental damage done. Parents suspecting their children of using drugs should test their kids; it could be that test that saves their life. In some places you can even get home drug tests for free from the police. ABC News reports, "Heroin is an epidemic here in Suffolk County [Long Island]," Sheriff Vincent DeMarco said. "I see the pain in parents' eyes. They're looking for something to combat their children's drug use". On Nov. 19, Suffolk County announced that it had purchased 16,000 drug testing kits, available for free for parents who want to test their children. The kits use litmus paper to test urine for six different drugs including methamphetamine, marijuana, heroin, Vicodin and Xanax. Since the program started parents have picked up nearly 450 of them".

It's never too early to intervene, but, sometimes it's too late. Your kids may think you're over parenting, that's simply not true; you are protecting your child's life. I encourage you to watch the Dr. Nancy Video dealing with this subject:

"Dec. 1: As drug testing for children gains in popularity nationwide, some parents in New York City are getting free at-home kits from the police. Are the testing kits really the best way to prevent drug use in kids?"

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