How Secure Are Your Medications?

The article I chose to talk about for my fourth blog was written by Alison Johnson from the “Daily Press” Newport News, Virginia. The piece is titled “How to keep medicine out of the reach of children”. The article was also published and linked to the Post and Courier website from Charleston, SC. Even though this was written by an author in Virginia, it is clear that this issue does pertain to a much bigger area, including us in South Carolina and much more. Children and drug abuse, I have realized through just how I felt before I started this assignment, and have definitely grown through my research and my “blogging”, it is very significant social problem in our world today.

This particular piece discussed the issue of children having the ability to get prescription drugs through family and friends. From the family and friends I myself am surrounded by, this is definitely something that shocks me. It is bad enough that the children are receiving these prescription drugs in the first place, but by people that are close to them is just beyond belief. Through the different stories I have read so far, in the first couple of articles it was children being affected by a parent/guardian’s drug abuse, and now is going to children being enabled to have substance abuse problems by receiving them through people like friends and family. Honestly can’t tell you which one is worse and I feel it is both poor parenting in many ways.

Even though the article did discuss children getting the prescription drugs from family and friends, it also discussed the risk and different steps people like parents could take to try to prevent drug abuse being an issue with their own children. The group the author got information about this issue through “National Family Partnership”. From what I have gathered, this is one of the many different organizations are centered on things such as the issue of drug abuse (along with other issues) within families. In my eyes, there definitely can’t be enough of them! According to “National Family Partnership”, “seventy percent of children who abuse prescription drugs get them from friends and family.” Looking at these numbers makes the realization even bigger on how big of an issue this really is.

According to the President of “National Family Partnership” Peggy Sapp,
“The No. 1 mistake parents make is thinking it can't happen to their child.”

During the part of the article that discusses ways of preventing substance abuse with children, there are eight different tips discussed. They are recognize the risk, explain the risk, store drugs safely, dispose of drugs safely, set a good example, have family dinners, get to know your child’s friends, and collection information from places such as LockYourMeds.org for more ways to prevent risks and substantial information on the issue. As I said earlier on, reading this articles and looking at the number of children affected by the issue of drug abuse. This social problem is definitely a scenario that needs all of the awareness and risk prevention possible, as a society it is definitely something that needs to be brought up and prevented as much as possible.

Prescription drugs are also illegal

In an article, by Vilma Sceusa, from the garden city.patch.com about the rising issue of illegal drugs being easily accessible among teenagers is present. She points out that just because the prescription drug is legal for family member and/or a friend does not mean that the same drug is legal for others to take. 

"Many people don't realize that using prescription drugs is just as illegal as street drugs."

 Some of the drugs that are being frequently used among teenagers include OxyContin, Xanax and Ritalin. However, teenagers are not just using prescription drugs, they are also using over the counter drugs including cough medicine. 


Sceusa mentions a couple ways to help prevent the second leading cause of accidental deaths in the United States. One of the way includes talking to your children about the drugs, before the age of 12. Communication is key, because many kids stated they would stray away from the drugs if their parents showed a strong disapproval. Another way that was noted is to lock the medicine away, that way it is not as easily accessible. Lastly, to deal with this issue the next step is legislation created among elected officials and carrying it out by law enforcement. 


It is also very interesting to see that the article made this a social problem that needs to be fixed at all levels of society, not just among teenagers with the problem. The parents and the elected officials need to be actively involve to solve this issue. Lastly the social institution of physicians should also have pressures put on them, therefore prescriptions are not new tossed around by teenagers. 


While this article may be written for the state of New York, it is of equal value to the state of South Carolina. This phenomenon is also evident among the youth of this state and information needs to be spread to keep others informed. The problem is amplified when teenagers are mixing these drugs with alcohol, which is a huge issue in the state. The issue of alcohol is for another discussion but it agains shows that drugs and alcohol are a huge problem among the youth of this state. Therefore blogs like this help to keep the state informed and help friends and family to help prevent issues.