Abusing Legal Drugs
The common perception of drugs focuses on illegal substances sold on street corners or in alleys. However, many teens abuse drugs they find in their own homes.
While some drugs are more susceptible to abuse, any drug can be abused. About 4 million children ages twelve and over use prescription drugs for nonmedical reasons. While girls may be more likely to misuse prescription drugs, boys do their fair share.
Alert
If your son is taking medications that were prescribed by a medical care provider for a specific problem, the risk of addiction is very low. However, you should warn your son about sharing or selling his medications. You should also talk to his provider about his risks of abuse and make sure your son goes in for regular checkups.
You should be mindful of pain medications (Oxycontin, Vicodin, Percocet, Tylenol 3, and so forth); medications used to treat attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (such as Ritalin); and medications used to treat anxiety (such as Valium and Xanax).
You may remember how, as a young child, your son resisted taking cough medicine and you had to wrestle with him to force it down his throat. For teens, chugging cough syrup or swallowing large numbers of pills is an easy way to get high. Cough syrups fall into two main categories: those with codeine (code named AC/DC, Barr) and those with dextromethorphan (DXM; slang terms include Robo, Robo tripping, Tussin, Dex). The short-term side effects include:
Nausea and/or vomiting
Sweating
Abdominal pain
Hyperactivity
Hallucinations
Increase in blood pressure
Seizures
Changes in heartbeat
E-Alert
Many teens mix DXM with other drugs. Some teens will use DXM to coat marijuana joints or dilute it with alcoholic drinks to negate the nasty flavor. You may also hear that some teens are using ecstasy with DXM as well.
In pill form, teens also ingest other chemicals meant to alleviate cold/cough symptoms, including acetaminophen and/or antihistamines. Some of these combinations can cause liver damage, in addition to the other dangers of cough syrup abuse, which include:
Passing out
Hemorrhaging in the brain
Permanent brain damage
Stroke
Parents often overlook seemingly innocuous over-the-counter medications, but make sure you talk to your son about drug abuse and the potential dangers to his health.
