Preventing Prescription Drug Abuse and Misuse

TRANSCRIPT:
As families, we do everything we can to keep our kids safe.

But there’s one danger often overlooked: Prescription drug abuse and misuse.

Ten percent of Denver Public Schools students reported having used prescription drugs without a prescription.

The average age of first use is just 13 years old.
This is particularly alarming as 80-percent of heroin users start with common prescription opioids.

When kids get these prescription drugs, it’s usually from a friend or relative.

But teen drug abuse can also start in the medicine cabinet.

How is this possible? While their brains are still developing, adolescents have a harder time controlling potentially dangerous impulses.

Don’t provide your child with the opportunity to make a poor decision.

Put a lock on your medicine cabinet… or purchase locking prescription vials.

You may be saving a life.

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This video brought to you by the DPS Substance
Use Prevention Program, Rise Above Colorado and Denver Partnership for YOUth Success