Talking to teens about prescription drug abuse

I agree with the main recommendations of the Drugfree.org/MetLife 2012 attitude tracking study of teens and parents regarding drug use: Do more to communicate risks of medicine misuse and abuse Safeguard medicines at home Properly dispose of unused medicines Avoid modeling bad behavior by misusing or abusing drugs The report raises quite a few interesting points, but some of the survey results raise more questions than they answer, and there are other issues not addressed. Prescription drug abuse is a serious problem. One area the report focuses on is the abuse of stimulants such as Adderall. Here’s their take: “In fact, almost one-third of parents (29 percent) say they believe ADHD medication can improve a teen’s academic or testing performance, even if the teen does not have ADHD, and one in four teens (26 percent) believes prescription drugs can be used as a study aid.” And regarding prescription drugs in general: “Parents and teens share the same misconceptions regarding prescription drug misuse and abuse. One in six parents (16 percent) believes that using prescription drugs to get high is safer than using street drugs, and more than one in four teens (27 percent) shares the same belief.” “One-third of teens (33 percent) say they believe ‘it’s okay to use prescription drugs that were not prescribed to them to deal with an injury, illness or physical pain.’” “One in four teens (25 percent) says there is ...
Source: Health Business Blog - Category: Health Managers Authors: Tags: Culture Research Source Type: blogs