This is a guest post by Blaise Brooks.
Did you know that 1 in 30 teens abuses over-the-counter cough medicine to get high?
Teens are ignoring labeling instructions and sometimes taking more than 25 times the recommended dosage.
Why are some teens doing this? Most teenagers can easily access cough medications at home. In fact, 64 percent of parents say that medicines in their home can be accessed by anyone.
It’s scary, but there are protective measures parents can take. Follow these safety tips to help prevent teen medicine abuse:
Safely Store Medicines
Make sure all medications are safely stored in the original packaging that contains the Drug Facts Label and dosage directions. And, if you have the option, store all medicines in one place.
Check your Shelf
Once you have all of your medicines safely stored, it is important to “check your shelf” regularly. Over 100 OTC products contain dextromethorphan (DXM), so chances are, you have some at home.
A product contains DXM if “dextromethorphan” is listed in the active ingredients list on the Drug Facts Label. You can also look for the Stop Medicine Abuse icon to easily see if a product contains DXM. While you are checking to see what’s in your medicine cabinet, be sure to also take note of current medicine quantities.
Additionally, be mindful of when your children are sick and how much medication they are consuming. This way, you will be able to notice if amounts don’t add up or something looks suspicious. Continue to check your medicine cabinet every three or four months to ensure everything looks normal.
Safe Disposal
Safely dispose of your old and unused medicines by taking advantage of local Drug Take-Back Days in your city. You can also safely dispose of medicines at home.
To do this, the FDA recommends that you remove medicines from their original containers and mix them with an undesirable substance, such as used coffee grounds, dirt or kitty litter. From there, you can the mixture in a sealable bag or container. Finally, you can throw the sealed mixture away in the household trash.
Have other medicine safety tips? Feel free to let us know in the comments below!
Blaise Brooks is a mother of one, caregiver of two, accountant and community advocate. Blaise is also a contributor to The Five Moms blog on StopMedicineAbuse.org, working to spread the word about cough medicine abuse with other parents. Join the conversation by following Stop Medicine Abuse on Facebook and Twitter.
Thank you so much for this Blaise – such a critically important issue. And thanks for the last disposal tip because so often the local disposal site is not very local!
Good point on the disposal site, Lisa. Thanks for stopping by!
Cathy and Blaise,
Thank you for sharing this. No parent thinks that their child could possibly do this. But I know that just by writing about this issue you’ve saved a parent and a child some kind of heart break. Thank you!
Thanks Betsy. It is good that communities are aware of medicine abuse, because it may not always be your kids. It could be their friends, or relatives that you are unaware that they have this issue.