Teens Will Try Anything

If you’ve ever hung around teenagers at all, you will find that they are an interesting mixture. They are extremely intelligent and able to learn, but they have not have enough life experience yet to be wise. Also, doctors say that their brains have not quite moved to the point where they are fully able to think through their current actions and see the consequences that will come from them.

Teens also put a lot of stock in what is said by the other teens that they admire. In another state a 13 year old boy died from taking prescription drugs at a “pill party.” No doubt one kid said to another, “hey, I took them before and nothing bad happened.” To a young teen, that’s tantamount to quoting the American Medical Association. They are still at an age where they need guidance from parents and teachers to help them think things through.

A story from October 5, 2011 told about three 9th graders (about age 14) who recently were hospitalized for taking prescription drugs during the school day. They had adverse reactions – hey, “who knew?”

"They get it illegally and then they use it, they don't know what it's for, they might overdose on it, they might give it to their friends and this could lead to some various serious consequences," Jefferson City Police Department Captain Doug Shoemaker said.

Because a doctor prescribed it and it's legal, teens often think it's OK to take, even if their name isn't on the bottle. They haven’t clued into the fact that these chemicals are dangerous. And parents have often trusted their kids entirely and not expected them to go rifling through the medicine drawer looking for goodies.

The police and the schools are endeavoring to advise people so that this problem will cease. Besides the danger of dying or getting addicted or doing something awful while under the influence of the drug, there is also the criminal repercussion to think about.

"Handing those out to friends or people that you know becomes distribution of a controlled substance so it's still the same as a narcotic, it's treated the same way so clearly there are criminal repercussions that can go with that," Shoemaker said.

Shoemaker urges parents to watch over their medications and their children more carefully.