The scary truth about kids and prescription drugs

According to the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, many teens mistakenly believe intentionally abusing medications to get high is somehow safer than using illegal drugs. They say an alarming number of teens are abusing over-the-counter and prescription drugs, and that we parents need to include this issue in our ongoing conversations with our kids about drugs and alcohol.

This is a serious issue, folks. If your medicine cabinet holds left-over drugs such as pain meds from a past incident -- say an injury or accident -- you may not even notice that over time, the pills in that bottle have been taken. Even if you have no reason to suspect that your teen would use those drugs, get rid of them. There's no point in keeping potentially dangerous drugs on hand when you no longer need them.

Learn more about how to prevent prescription and over-the-counter drug abuse -- and find a ton of other great information for parents -- at the Partnership for A Drug-Free America web site. They have useful resources for parents on how to talk to teens, how to spot potential problems and how to get help if you need it.

Also, visit the parent "decoder blog" sponsored by Drug-Free -- they help "break down teen culture, substance abuse and parenting." There are some great posts that help keep parents a step ahead of our savvy teenagers. Very informative and interesting stuff.

The culture makes it cool to abuse drugs and alcohol and there are plenty of role models for this behavior among our kids' favorite actors, singers and musicians, as well as among their peers. We have to take the time to be informed about the messages they're hearing on this subject and then respond appropriately.

And if you're the parents of younger children, know that it's never too early to get familiar with these issues. You'll be facing them before you know it.