NEW YORK The Partnership for a Drug-Free America and Abbott on Tuesday launched “Not In My House” (NotInMyHouse.com), a joint national education initiative that provides parents with information and tips to help them limit teen access to medicines.
According to a 2007 national survey of 1,000 teens between the ages of 13 and 18 and their parents conducted by the Partnership with support from Abbott, more than half of teens who reported abusing prescription medications said they got the medications in their own home (15 percent) or from a parent or relative (11 percent) or friend (24 percent).
As startling is the fact that more than half of the teens who tried medication without a prescription believed it was safer than street drugs and there was nothing wrong with taking them once in a while.
“With one in five teenagers reporting abuse of a prescription medication to get high, parents must open their eyes to the dangers of this new tier of teen substance abuse,” stated Steve Pasierb, chief executive officer of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. “Teens and their parents have a false sense of security, mistakenly believing it’s somehow safer to abuse prescription medication than street drugs. This issue demands the immediate action of parents, both by learning the facts and safeguarding medications at home as well as talking with teens about this very real threat to their health.”
The website, www.NotInMyHouse.com, offers insight on talking about the dangers of prescription drug misuse and abuse with teens, helps explain how the teen brain may make them more vulnerable to addiction, details the teen drug culture and lingo and gives three simple steps parents can take to help secure their homes.
“Prescription medicines have an important role in health care, but they have significant risks when they are misused and abused,” stated Jeff Haas, general manager, pain care, Abbott. “Abbott and the Partnership have developed the ‘Not in My House’ education initiative to help teach parents the importance of securing medications in their homes to help protect their children.”