(cc) image by psyberartist/flickr
Probably the worst side effect of kids being prescribed Ritalin and similar drugs in excess is that these kids eventually become teenagers who still take these drugs and also share them with each other.
The survey, of 592 12- to 17-year-olds from across the U.S., found that 20 percent admitted to having lent a prescription drug to a friend, while a similar percentage said they had done the borrowing.
The most commonly shared prescriptions were allergy drugs and narcotic pain relievers like Oxycontin and Darvocet, followed by antibiotics, acne medications like Accutane, and mood drugs such antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications.
According to USA Today, teens have better access to prescription drugs than beer.
Unprescribed drug use begins innocently enough with kids taking drugs of kids with the same health condition or symptoms. It escalates to students taking another person’s drugs to lose weight or study longer. Students who take prescription drugs meant for others eventually become addicted and move to the next step of buying prescription drugs from classmates to taking illegal drugs.
How do parents keep these drugs away from teenagers if the drugs are prescribed to the kids? Perhaps parents can dispense the drugs to the students instead of turning the prescription over to them.
According to sheknows.com, we need to deal with teens and prescription drugs in the same way we deal with toddlers.
Prescription drugs should be kept in a locked cabinet.
Parents must explain that taking any drugs (from inhalers to Ritalin) not prescribed to them is dangerous and illegal.
Parents should never let their kids seen them taking prescription drugs prescribed to someone else. They don’t usually come up with these ideas on their own.
Teens cannot be handed their prescription drugs to take on their own without monitoring. As teens approach 17 or 18, you can decided based on maturity if they can take their medications themselves.
Parents cannot ignore changes in their teens behavior or personality.
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