It's an epidemic. Teenagers raiding medicine cabinets, doctors so easily prescribing pain medication, and parents.... blind. Luckily, my daughter is too young to have any concept of this, but that doesn't mean I don't see it. With every passing week there is another rumor in our suburban county about substance abuse and teens taking it too far. They are absolutely unaware of the depth of severity of what they are messing with.
Parents, your 17 year old daughter should not look pale in the summer with pupils the size of pinpricks. Your sons should not seem to be deteriorating before your eyes. Constant scratching, sores on their faces, and a nasty attitude is not always acne and teen angst. The signs are there, the signs are OBVIOUS. If your child has their wisdom teeth removed they will be prescribed strong pain medication. They will likely enjoy the euphoria it gives them. Without the proper direction or supervisor they can find that same high in your cabinets or walk a block away and buy a hand full of that same medication.
When I was in high school Oxycotin was the rage, I now understand that this drugs is very difficult to come by. Now kids take "perk 30s". 30mg Percocet... there is nothing higher, except heroin, which is also cheaper. This epidemic does not just pertain to the "almost-adult" community. You can see grown men and women with families of their own to support fall to the same demise. Hurt your back at work? Here's a script. You need that medication to help with the pain so that you can rehab your body. Two years later you've run out of options to receive any more pills, you've made drug connections in bad neighborhoods and your wife is leaving you and taking your children with her.
Please do what you can. Supervise your children's prescription medication. Hide your own medication. Be aware of the clues. And don't be naive... that pretty little cheerleader is just as susceptible as the lonely tomboy. And your star lacrosse player is in just as much danger as the hippie hipster wanna-be's smoking cigarettes behind the school.
Comments