Teen Prescription Drug Abuse On the Rise But But These 4 Teen Pharming Prevention Tips Can Help
1. Teen pharming can be prevented when old medications that are no longer needed are properly disposed of. Many home medicine cabinets contain prescription and over the counter drugs which are expired or no longer used. When these are not disposed of they are available for any teenagers to access, and this can lead to drug abuse.
2. A locked medicine cabinet or drug box is an excellent way to prevent teen prescription drug abuse using your medications. If you have teenagers or younger children in the home it is a good idea to keep all prescription medications under lock and key. Many parents do not want to believe that teens would steal drugs that were prescribed to family members but this is a common problem.
3. If you want to prevent teen pharming make sure you talk with the adolescents in your family about the dangers of misusing and abusing prescription drugs. Many teenagers believe that since a drug was prescribed by a doctor it is safe and does not have any risks. Discuss the dangers with your kids to avoid this mistake.
4. Screening for teen prescription drug abuse is important. You want to hope that your adolescent will talk with you if they have a problem but at this stage teens often pull away. Discuss screening your teen for substance abuse with your family doctor or another healthcare professional. These professionals can also provide helpful tips on how to identify drug and alcohol abuse among teens for early detection and treatment.
