Resources Healthy Communities Choosing to Live Drug Free! BIG BOYS? COTTON? KICKER? CHILL PILLS? FRENCH FRIES? TRANQS? What motivates teens to engage in prescription drug abuse? Ultimately, their desire for getting high outweights their perception of the risks. DID YOU KNOW . . . - 12 to 17 year olds abuse prescription drugs more than they abuse ecstasy, crack/cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine combined? - 60% of teens who have abused prescription painkillers did so before age 15? - there are as many new abusers ages 12 to 17 of prescription drugs as there are of marijuana? Every day, 2,500 teenagers use a prescription drug to get high for the first time. They are accessing these drugs in the comfort of home; it can be as easy as opening a cupboard, drawer, or medicine cabinet. The good news - there are steps you can take to help protect your kids from prescription drug abuse: monitor, secure, and dispose. MONITOR: • Take note of how many pills are in each of your prescription bottles or pill packets. • Keep track of your refills. • If your teen has a prescription, be sure to control the medication - monitor dosages and refills. • Make sure your friends and relatives (especially grandparents) are aware of the risks - encourage them to monitor their medication as well. • If there are other households your child has access to, talk to those families as well. SECURE: • Take prescription medications out of the medicine cabinet and hide them in a place only you know about. • If possible, keep all medicines, both prescription and over-the-counter, in a safe place, such as a locked cabinet your teen cannot access. • Tell relatives, especially grandparents, to lock their medications or keep them in a safe place. • Talk to the parents of your teenager's friends. Encourage them to secure their prescription. DISPOSE: • Take an invetory of all the prescription drugs in your home. Start by discarding expired or unused prescription druges, when your teens are not home. • Unbelieveable though it may seem, teenagers will retrieve discarded prescription drugs from the trash. To help prevent this from happening, mix the medication with an undesireable substance, such as used coffee grounds or kitty litter. Put the mixture into an empty can or bag and discard. • Unless the directions on the packaging say otherwise, do not flush medication down the drain or toilet. • To help prevent unauthorized refills and protect your and your family's privacy, remove any personal, indentifiable information from prescription bottles or pill packages before you throw them away. You may not know what pharming is, but your kids do. The first step in helping protect your teens is to speak the same language. You can then take a more proactive approach in communicating with your teen and safeguarding their health and safety. Remember, research shows taking time to talk with and listen to your teen is a strong preventive measure. Remember - silence (on your part) isn't golden, it's permission. The North Hawai'i Drug-Free Coalition provides resources for prevention. Please take a few minutes to download and review the drug chart and Aloha Care article on this page. Source: Partnership for a Drug-Free America and Aloha Care, "Is Your Teen Using Drugs?" (Winter 2010) Our Mission Statement The members of the North Hawaiʻi Drug-Free Coalition facilitate and coordinate collaborative action among communities, organizations, and government agencies to prevent and reduce substance abuse among children, adolescents, and over time adults. 2011 Year-End Recap Slideshow North Hawaii Drug-Free Coalition Sponsors