Could Your Kids Get High from Your Drug Cabinet?

Vicodin for back pain, Robitussin for coughs, and Ambien to help you drift to sleep at night.

When you open your drug cabinet, that’s what you see.

But your teen—and his friends—may see a chance to get high.

Nearly eight percent of youths ages 12 to 17 have purposely misused prescription medications, reports the National Institute on Drug Abuse. And that number is growing as more kids steal and take high doses of the meds in their parents’ drug cabinets.

“Adolescents know what prescription and over-the-counter drugs to look for, because their labels clearly warn that you shouldn’t mix them with alcohol,” says Patrick Smith, a drug counselor for young adults at the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, California. “Kids usually start experimenting with legal drugs between the ages of 11 and 13, which is also when they start selling them to each other at school.”

If your child succumbs to this kind of peer pressure, it could be dangerous. The painkiller Vicodin can slow his breathing, while Robitussin, a cough remedy containing alcohol, can get him drunk. The sleep medication Ambien can impair his short-term memory, while the anxiety drug Xanax can trigger hallucinations. The blood thinner Coumadin can slow his wound healing, while the blood pressure drug Capoten can make him pass out.

“These side effects are especially dangerous if your child mixes drugs or is already on prescription meds,” says Daniel Frattarelli, MD, chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ committee on drugs.

“There’s also the harm your child’s prescription drug abuse could cause others. Adolescents don’t have a developed sense of judgment,” says Jeffrey Brent, MD, a pediatrician at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. “While an adult who is drunk might hand over his car keys, a teen might not realize that legal drugs impair his ability to drive.”

Just as some pharmacies have taken steps to stop teens from abusing legal drugs, restricting the sale of certain cough medications to three packages per purchase, parents should do their part, too. “The last thing you want is for your child to overdose,” says Frattarelli.

 As safety measures, parents should:

• • Take a regular inventory of the family’s prescription and over-the-counter drugs;
• • Clean out the drug cabinet once a year, flushing expired medications down the toilet;
• • Buy over-the-counter cough remedies that are alcohol free;
• Always complete prescriptions so extra pills aren’t lying around the house; and
• • Plug the national Poison Help hotline number (800-222-1222) into family cell phones.

Discuss substance abuse with your child, remaining supportive and nonjudgmental and keeping the lines of communication open. If your family has a history of substance abuse or if you have other reasons to be especially concerned about your drug cabinet, lock your legal medications in a safe place, keeping them out of your teen’s hands—and keeping your teen out of harm’s way.