1. Talk to other parents and spread the word.  It’s never okay to think “not my kid.” This type of denial only leads to tragedy.  Cough medicine abuse has real consequences that can truly be life-altering. It’s vital that parents talk to other parents and spread the word that  cough medicine abuse is a problem that ALL teens are in danger of, but that there are resources available to help.  – Christy Crandell

1. Help your teen combat peer pressure by building their self-esteem.  Home is the one place a child should always feel good about themselves so make an effort to compliment your child every day.  The more you build them up, the less likely they are to listen to negative words from others.  By creating a positive environment, teens are less likely to shy away from uncomfortable conversations with their parents. – Blaise Brooks

1. Get active in your community.  All members of the community play a vital role in keeping our community and our children safe.  Even the smallest action can reverberate throughout a community so get out there and start talking about the dangers of cough medicine abuse: attend a local PTA meeting, make sure your school nurse has resources, start a book club like I did.  Every little bit counts!   – Tammy Walsh

1. Safeguard your medicines.  When it comes to medicine abuse one of the biggest dangers is that they are so readily available.  Take advantage of spring cleaning season to take an inventory of what and how much medicine you have in your cabinet.  Most importantly, keep track of your medicines, and tell your friends to keep an eye on their own medicine cabinets, as well. – Becky Dyer

1. TALK TO YOUR TEEN.  If we have said it once, we have said it a million times-talking to your teen is key to preventing abuse.  According to the Partnership at DrugFree.org teens who talk to their parents about drug abuse are 50 percent less likely to abuse.  So stop reading and start talking!    – Five Moms

One way that I help build my daughter’s self-esteem is by making it a point to give her three compliments a day. I make sure that I build her up, so that it’s hard for her to feel anything but good about herself. I do this in hope that if someone has something negative to say to her or towards her, she can hear my voice saying good things, and will be able to ignore the negative words from others. By giving her compliments and positive reinforcement, it allows her to feel good about herself through any adversity. 

For me, the positive reinforcement from my home and my family always made me search for positive people and groups outside of my home life. I feel the one place a child should feel good about themselves and feel loved and cared about is at home.  By making an effort to talk with your child about their lives and the issues they face, boosting your child’s self-esteem can also help you build your relationship with them. So I make it a point to have real, open conversations with my daughter. Once your child sees that you are complimentary and positive towards them, they are less likely to shy away from conversations with their parents – and can feel more comfortable talking about the negative things that happen during their day, too. The more you talk with them, the more likely they are to open up to you about tough subjects or peer-pressures they may be facing.

When I’m in my community talking with other parents, I like to remind them to make it a point to have open conversations with their teens. Don’t miss an opportunity to talk with your child, and take advantage of the times when your child wants to talk. I have seen kids who start becoming loners, or say that no one likes them and are non-communicative. Many may do this because they don’t feel good about who they are. These kids are also more likely to get into a group that takes them in when no one else will, and that group is usually the type of group that can and will lead your child into doing things that they would not normally do.  This is why it is imperative to be the voice in our children’s head, because if you are not, someone else could be.

We must stay positive in our approach to parenting to build and strengthen the relationships we have with our children. Low self-esteem can lead to behavioral problems. How teens value themselves and the decisions they make all stem from their self-image. As parents, it is our job to help our children feel good about themselves, provide them with the guidance they need, and encourage the right behaviors.

Rome, NY Police Department

Working in the field of Law Enforcement presents it daily rewards and challenges, as well as a constant need to walk a fine line between protecting public safety while not infringing upon the people’s rights. This can sometimes be even more challenging when we are presented with a product that is being used in a manner that it is not intended, is a danger to those abusing it, and can affect the rest of the community through its abuse. Teen medicine abuse is just such an issue, and has been a growing concern in our community.

As a police officer, it does not come as a surprise to me that many teens feel the need to spread their wings and experiment. We make a concerted effort to keep abreast of issues affecting our teenagers, but the lengths to which some teens will go to attain that “high” through any means necessary often comes as a complete shock to their parents and sometimes even their friends. We know that teens experience a lot of pressure and may abuse substances such as cough medicines to attain a high to escape that pressure, boredom, or depression. Shockingly many teens and parents do not realize how dangerous abusing these drugs can be, and the extensive damage they can cause.

In our community we believe that the best way to combat these kinds of issues is to keep our citizens informed about the problems we are facing. I write a weekly column in two local newspapers that addresses these issues, and we regularly hold informational meetings that are open to the entire community. We encourage our citizens to become involved at these events, and invite their questions and concerns. We work in concert with our school system, providing resource officers that facilitate communication between students, staff and their parents in an attempt to keep appraised of these issues facing our kids.

For parents who want to work with Law Enforcement to prevent teen medicine abuse, I would advise contacting your local police department and expressing your concerns. Most police departments have an officer(s) who handle public concerns and can help you get started working together. Of course websites such as StopMedicineAbuse.org provide invaluable resources in the fight against this issue. By combining the resources of such a great organization as this with the efforts of the concerned citizens of your area, you can help to prevent the spread of teen medicine abuse in your community.

Tim Bates is the Detective Commander of the Rome, New York Police Department. For questions or comments, he can be reached at (315) 339-7715 or via email at batest@romepd.com.

Not only are these events the ideal place to dispose of your family’s medicines, they are also the ideal place to share information from StopMedicineAbuse.org and to talk to other parents about cough medicine abuse.

Parents attending the take-back days likely know that teen abuse of prescription drugs is on the rise – but do they know that 5 percent of teens abuse over-the-counter cough medicine? You can make sure they do! Dropping off a stack of StopMedicineAbuse.org pamphlets (order for free here) at your local location site is a simple way to reach parents in your community!

Also, don’t be scared to stick around for a while to seize opportunities talk to other parents. I know that sometimes we feel hesitant to talk to other parents about their teens because we fear being perceived as intrusive or judgmental, but in my experience as a D.A.R.E. officer and a mom, I have found that most parents appreciate it when other parents express genuine concern. After all, we’re all in this together – just tell them you are taking part in the Five Moms campaign!

In an earlier blog post – Drug-Proofing Your Home and Family – I shared some ways to drug-proof your home, but if your teen was abusing drugs, would you know where to look? Most likely he/she would hide it in a bedroom, backpack or car – somewhere a certain level of privacy is expected (and typically received without question) – somewhere they feel “safe.”

This is the place where you, the parent, have to walk the fine line between respecting your teen’s privacy and keeping him or her safe.

Many parents who otherwise drug-proof their home often simply draw the line here, which makes it the perfect place for teens to experiment without supervision and find themselves heading in the wrong direction while their parents are in oblivion.

At the very least, you need to be on the lookout for signs of abuse – unexpected empty medicine packages in the trash or lying around the room, on the floorboard of their car or sticking out of their backpack. Cough syrups, cold and allergy medicines can be purchased over-the-counter and are often abused.

You might also consider a no-locked-door policy. This is not the same as not respecting someone’s privacy – it’s a knock-and-announce policy. If you hear a scurry of activities, odd sounds or smell strange odors – it may call for a more thorough investigation.

Another tactic is to become more active in helping them clean these areas, especially their bedroom. I’m not suggesting do so without their expectation – in fact, let it be known this could occur at any moment.  If you’ve woven in drug abuse facts and your opinions into previous discussions with them, they already know you don’t tolerate drug abuse. They should not expect to be able to hide evidence of abuse in your home and go undetected.

So, how do you clean their room – or do what I like to call a “search and rescue” (searching for evidence of things your child needs rescuing from)?  First, I would not announce when you will be cleaning or allow your child to be present. To do so would be to negate the purpose – if your child has something to hide it is likely to disappear pretty quickly – leaving you with a false sense of security.

When cleaning, be extra diligent around the bed – it’s a favorite hiding place for just about anything. Check inside pillowcases, between mattresses and even around the bedframe. Also, if you notice any holes in the underside of box springs – check them out.

When opening their closet, think like a kid and check places they would never expect anyone to find – pockets of old ski jacket, inside old shoes, or even tucked into a cap. Also, backpacks, suitcases, gym bags – there are all kinds of hidden compartments built into them that are hardly ever noticed. Check the ones your child uses all the time and the ones thrown in the closet and hardly ever touched.

When opening drawers, do more than look in them – feel the balled-up socks, pull the drawer out, check out the underside for taped items.

Check behind and around items on bookshelves and on top and underneath furniture. Look at the air vents – are screws missing? Check it out. The unused battery compartment of an old boom box lying around (yes, there are still some around) is another place to hide drugs.

There are endless ways to hide things in plain sight – such as hollowed-out books, empty ink pins and markers and “fake” deodorant cans. These are things you can typically easily pick up and tell something’s “off” – either by weight or by shaking them.

Drug-proofing your home, physically, and drug-proofing your family are two separate things that go hand in hand.

If you think that your teen is abusing medicines but don’t know what to do next, take a breath and then get the professional support you need. There is a lot of support out there and resources available, including Time to Act! and Intervene, a community of experts, parents, and caring adults who have come together to share insights, guidance, and help.

Susanne Ballard, RPh, is a veteran pharmacist and mother to four daughters. When one of her daughter’s was 2-years-old she ingested medicine in the time it took to fold a load of laundry. Her daughter was unharmed, but the incident ignited her passion for helping families drug-proof their homes. Today Susanne is known as the PharMomAssist for her work to empower parents, grandparents and other adults to keep young children and teens safe from the dangers lurking in medicine cabinets and beyond. Learn more at www.PharMomAssist.com.

A primary way teens are learning about cough medicine abuse is through the Internet. There are many websites that actually promote over-the-counter cough medicine abuse, providing instructions on how to abuse these medicines to get high. Teens are also posting videos of themselves online while high on cough medicines.

Yet, parents may shy away from proactively monitoring their teens’ online activities because they don’t want to be overbearing, “uncool,” or untrusting. But I’m here to tell those parents, “IT’S OKAY!”

I have learned there are ways to be hands-on without hovering, and here’s how:

• Monitor what your teen is searching and where they’re going online. Keep tabs on the list of websites visited and items searched on your computer by reviewing your Internet browser’s history. You can do this by opening your Internet window and using the shortcut Ctrl+H. Look for suspicious sites or search terms related to dangerous behavior, such as terms like “robotripping” or “dexxing” and pro-drug use sites like GrassCity.com and Erowid.com.

• To friend or not to friend your teen on Facebook? Friend away! According to a recent study by research group Lab42, 92 percent of parents are Facebook friends with their children and more joining to monitor their kids’ interactions. Forty percent citing safety as the top reason for looking at their profiles. This will allow you to keep tabs on who your teen is interacting with and will allow you to identify any red flags for risky behavior, including dangerous teen trends like cough medicine abuse.

• Address online behavior offline. If you see your teen using their Facebook page in an inappropriate way or if you see red flags for dangerous behavior, address it offline! Don’t use their profile as a way to communicate your concerns. Instead, take it as an opportunity to talk to your teen offline; for example, if you see friends referencing drinking or drug use on their wall talk to them about the risks of this dangerous behavior.

• Bring Internet use out from behind closed doors. Insist that your teen uses the computer in a communal space rather than in their bedrooms.

As parents, we have more control than we think when it comes to preventing our teens from abusing drugs and alcohol. Safeguarding our homes, monitoring behavior and talking with our teens about the risks of drug abuse will help set our teens up for success. When monitoring your teens’ online behavior, it’s important to stay firm and remind them that you are concerned because you love them. I hope you find these tips helpful and I encourage you to share them through Facebook.

While it is important to remember this throughout the year, the American Medical Association (AMA) is encouraging you to take the time during Patient Safety Awareness Week   to clean out your cabinet and dispose of medicines safely.  Follow the instructions below in order to prevent medicine abuse in your home:

It’s important to properly dispose of these medicines to avoid harm to wildlife, pets and people. To safely dispose of expired, unwanted or unused medicines, we encourage you to follow these tips:

• The safest way to dispose of medicines is to take advantage of community drug take-back programs that allow the public to bring unused drugs to a central location for proper disposal.
• Follow the disposal instructions on the Drug Facts label or patient information that came with the medicine.
• Do not flush any drugs down the toilet unless the information instructs you to do so.

For more tips, download the AMA’s Medication Safety Disposal Guide.

Teen drug abuse is a pretty hot topic right now. It seems everywhere we turn we’re bombarded with statistics and sad stories. It’s probably crossed your mind at least once or twice that you need to secure those meds scattered throughout your home. But, if you’re like most people, you haven’t.

Moms spend vast amounts of time and money to avoid “living with regret” – from car seats to Googling Internet safety. We haven’t assumed “it” won’t happen to us. Let’s not start now – even though our kids are growing up, they still need our protection. They are still curious, exploring and learning. And their friends are too.

Don’t make it easy for them to make a bad, potentially life-altering decision – set them up for success!

I’m a huge advocate of developing a family culture around things such as talking, family activities and meals together that develop strong family ties and help decrease the risks for drug abuse. Drug-proofing your home, physically, and drug-proofing your family are two separate things that go hand in hand.

Simply getting control over the drugs in your home is not all it takes to protect your children. It is, however, a critical component – so here’s a little crash course to help you with the physical side of it. 

Create a Medication Hub

Since one of the primary places teens find medicines to abuse is in their own homes, it is important to keep on top of where the drugs are in your home. Designate a central location in your home as your medication hub and keep it secured. This takes the guesswork out of determining which drugs should be locked up and which should not and becomes a “this is just what we do with our medicine” kind of thing.

It’s much easier to rummage through something behind a locked door than out in a public area.  It’s also much harder to find anything to rummage through if it’s locked away. Your teens and their friends are not likely to break a lock to get to your meds since they don’t want you to know they’re taking any. They may, however, attempt to pick a lock. Thus, carefully select your lock and have as little as possible inside if they succeed.

One of the first things you should do when gathering medicines for your hub is to cull the outdated drugs, the ones that are expired or are for conditions your family no longer has. Less unnecessary medicines in your home mean fewer opportunities for problems.

Simply throwing unwanted medicine in the trash is never a good idea – teens have been known to rifle through garbage for drugs – and also this makes it easy for young kids and pets to be poisoned.

You can dispose of these unneeded drugs by calling your local pharmacy and asking if there is a local “drug drop-off” location OR check out the FDA’s recommendations for safe disposal and a list of drugs considered safe to flush down the toilet.

Now, let’s check out the main rooms in the home where drugs are stored. This is not an all-inclusive list; you will want to do a run-through of all the rooms in your home to make sure you have not overlooked anything.

Kitchen

This kitchen is where I’ve found most people keep the bulk of their medicine. Primarily in the cabinet, but also countertops, windowsills and cute little baskets on the table.

This is where I have my locked medication hub. Since it’s where much of the activity of the day is, it is very convenient. It’s also more of a public location so it’s not so easy for someone to attempt to access, as it would be if this were in a less travelled part of the house.

Bathroom

This is the second most common place I’ve found people keep medicine. Here medicine is found in medicine cabinets, drawers, closets and under counters. Very little of the medicine here is typically needed routinely and could very easily be stored in your medication hub with no strain on your routine.

For what’s left that you want to keep on-hand, I recommend getting a small lock box for your bathroom and keeping just what you need there. If it’s your daily meds, you can use a 7-day pill organizer, fill it with your meds for the week and store the bulk supply in your medication hub.

Bedroom

Parents often keep medicine on or in their bedside table – sometimes sitting out on top of or in the dresser or in the closet.

This, like the master bathroom, may seem like our own private space; however, we all know our kids often wonder in and out at will. So, while it may be private, it is not secure.

Mom’s Purse

While Mom’s purse is technically not a room sometimes it feels as though you have packed half the house when you go out. Often, we carry medicine here just in case we need it while we’re out. Carry as little as you need to get through the day. You can replenish as needed when you get home.

Monitor what’s in there so you can be aware of any missing pills. You may even want to consider letting your teens know you monitor these meds.

Also, be aware of where you store your purse at home. Keep it in a safe place – up high and out of reach if young children are present.

Drug-proofing your home’s physical environment doesn’t have to be challenging, but it does have to be consistent. Developing habits that “tell” you what to do with your medicine in your home, such as a locked medication hub, is one of the best ways to keep control of the medicine you know is in your home. Developing “search and rescue” routines with your teens is one of the best ways to discover what you don’t know is in your home.

Take some time this week to do what you’ve become an expert on through the years – protecting your kids from their innocence and setting them up for success.

You won’t regret it.

Susanne Ballard, RPh, is a veteran pharmacist and mother to four daughters. When one of her daughter’s was 2-years-old she ingested medicine in the time it took to fold a load of laundry. Her daughter was unharmed, but the incident ignited her passion for helping families drug-proof their homes. Today Susanne is known as the PharMomAssist for her work to empower parents, grandparents and other adults to keep young children and teens safe from the dangers lurking in medicine cabinets and beyond. Learn more at www.PharMomAssist.com.

I have to admit, I was a little nervous because I usually speak to groups of 25 or less, and I knew that 2,500 people attend the leadership forum! That said, it was exciting to share the message of community drug prevention on a wider scale. Many of the people at the conference work for drug prevention organizations around the country, so it was really helpful to share and learn from what others are doing. I learned that as a community we must all work together. All members of the community play a vital role in keeping our community safe.  It was wonderful to connect with so many people; everyone I talked to was interested to hear about what they can do to make a difference in their community. In fact, many were interested to learn more about the Northport Community Book Club and it was so invigorating to see the impact it could have nationwide.

While in DC, I also met with Congressman Steve Israel (D), who represents New York’s 2nd Congressional District, including my hometown of Northport, Long Island. Congressman Israel and I had a great conversation about the drug problem on Long Island and specifically what can be done to prevent medicine abuse. I was happy to learn that Congressman Israel supports legislation to combat drug use, and we’re hoping to team up for a future event to raise awareness of this important issue. It’s so important that parents, educators, law enforcement officials and legislators work together to combat medicine abuse; in order to be successful, we all have to do our part.

It was a fun-filled two days, and I was excited to get home and share my experience with my students, my family and other members of my community. When I started the Northport Community Book Club I never imagined that we would make such an impact on so many lives and on a national level.  I threw myself into helping others at a time in my life when I thought I was losing my own son forever.  We all need to do our part to protect our teens. Every day that my son is drug-free is a joy and I want all parents to know this feeling. Next time I’m in DC will be for the Marine Corp Marathon in October, and I’m excited to see what progress the other Moms and I have made by then!

Each year, we get together to outline our hopes for the year and discuss what we’d like to achieve to help prevent teen cough medicine abuse. This year, we’re making it our mission to:

1. Let parents know about the importance of having a conversation with their teen about cough medicine abuse.
2. Empower parents, educators, and community leaders to take small steps which will help prevent abuse in their homes and their communities.

Each of us wanted to share our personal goals in helping to prevent teen cough medicine abuse in hopes of inspiring your own goals to help teens throughout this year.

Tammy: In 2012, I want to raise awareness of medicine abuse and the Five Moms campaign through the Northport Community Book Club and also through my participation in the Marine Corps Marathon in DC. I also want to share the Five Moms message at local events in my community.

Christy: I want to use my family’s story as a cautionary tale to educate other families about cough medicine abuse. It brings me comfort to know that my family’s experience has not been in vain. Others have been able to learn from our experience and take the steps necessary to protect their families.

Becky: My goals for the next year are twofold: I want to reach to provide local substance abuse treatment locations with information to pass long to their clients on cough medicine abuse. I also hope to do a workshop on cough medicine abuse for school teachers and administrators at the beginning of the school year.

Misty: I want to continue to be a face and voice of the Five Moms campaign, reminding parents that it is important to talk to their teens about drug abuse and other risky behaviors. I will share my story with other moms in the hope that they will take the steps to prevent abuse in their homes.

Blaise: Communities play an important role in preventing substance abuse. When I’m in my community, attending church events and visiting schools, I want to continue to spread awareness about the dangers of cough medicine abuse in particular so that others are aware of the dangerous behavior.

How will you help teens? Share your goals to prevent teen substance abuse with us in the comments below.