A group of Moms paid a visit this week to Washington, DC and the majestic Capitol Hill. They were on a mission to find someone to support common sense. After all, what federal politician wouldn’t agree to the pleas, “We are simply asking for you to support common sense…”
There is a growing problem in this nation of ours where our children are abusing cough medicine. Morningside Mom tells us about the problem,
The Partnership for Drug Free America also reports that “41 percent of teens mistakenly believe that abuse of medicines is less dangerous than abuse of illegal street drugs.” And when teens do abuse dextromethorphan, it has been found that they take 20 – 50 times the recommended dosage which equates to consuming multiple bottles of cough medicine at one time.
The group of women writers got to have dinner with Dr. Drew Pinsky – compassionate rehabilitation doctor who also happens to help celebrities with their addictions. Yes, I watch those shows. Yes, I do fall into the public heap of caring about celebrities even though they have no clue who I am.
Dr. Drew went on to the Hill with a group of concerned parents, FIVE MOMS, who united to put an end to the abuse of cough medicine for the ingredient dextromethorphan – a key component in cough medicine. In DC, they met with both U.S. Representatives and Senators (and/or their legislative staff). Will there be results? Perhaps. But there’s a lot of politicking to be done first, no doubt.
Meanwhile, what can YOU do as a Mom, Dad, Grandparent, Reader? I’m hoping I don’t break copyright infringement rules, but I’m pasting a good chunk of this from Morningside Mom’s post so I don’t risk you not clicking through to read what you can do yourself to be aware and respond to this growing problem.
First of all, every parent should educate themselves. Go to StopMedicineAbuse.org to learn more about the risks, the facts, how dextromethorphan is abused and what signs to look for.
Secondly (and probably MOST importantly) you need to discuss this drug and its risks with your teens. Don’t find yourself assuming your sweet innocent child would never do this. Don’t find yourself dealing with a future overdose just like Misty Fetko did.
Thirdly, read medicine labels, look for the educational icon (see at right) and keep careful tabs on what you have in your medicine cabinets. If you see this icon on a medicine label, you should be aware that it has the potential to be abused and may contain dextromethorphan.
Finally, contact your elected officials to voice your support for them to DO SOMETHING that can help our youth. And tell Five More Moms about this.
Thanks so much for posting this. Its an extremely important cause and am happy to have this info here too! And I will be sure to let the folks at CHPA know you posted this. (And if your readers want to see pics of the fabulous Dr. Drew from our adventure on Capitol Hill, they are welcome to come on over. 🙂 )