#ToMyTeen: What Teens and Tweens Need to Know About Medicine Abuse

Did you know that October is National Medicine Abuse Awareness Month? Each year, more and more teens are abusing medicine in order to get high. As a mom of a twenty year old college student and a ten year old, I find this a hard truth, but one that I must discuss with my kids. Medicine abuse is easy for teens and tweens because it is readily available in most of our households. Who doesn’t have a medicine cabinet in their home that has readily available with both over the counter and prescription medicines? This is easily accessible, and if not checked, can have dangerous consequences.

The Stop Medicine Abuse Campaign was created to alert parents and members of the community with information about the problem of teenage over the counter drug abuse, particularly of cough medicines that contain DXM (dextrompethrophan). They’ve created a new platform called #ToMyTeen to help encourage a conversation between parents and their teens /tweens about the positive rewards of raising children in today’s world. We often hear so much bad stuff when it comes to our kids—it’s time to hear and share some good!

You can get involved in the #ToMyTween campaign as well and even win some dough. The Stop Medicine Abuse campaign is giving away a $50 VISA card randomly to five (5) people who participate.

Here’s how to get involved with #ToMyTween and win a $50 VISA gift card:

Visit to ToMyTeen.com and answer one of our questions about raising teens and tweens today
Write down your answer on a large piece of paper
Take a photo holding up your answer
Upload it to the site
Share your images on Twitter or Facebook and include the hashtag #ToMyTeen. Invite and encourage your friends and family to join the campaign

Simple and easy. Plus you are spreading the word about medicine abuse, which is a win too! In addition, there will also be a #ToMyTeen Twitter Party Tuesday, October 7 at 9pm EST. You can follow them at @StopMedAbuse.

Here are some facts on medicine abuse and teens:

Approximately 1 in 25 teens reports abusing excessive amounts of DXM to get high. One in 3 knows someone who has abused cough medicine to get high. What is DXM? Dextromethorphan (DXM) is a safe and effective ingredient found in many over-the-counter (OTC) cough medicines.

When abused, DXM can cause side effects including vomiting, stomach pain, mild distortions of color and sound, hallucinations, and loss of motor control.

The reality is that having a conversation with your child is critically important. Data shows that what parents say does matter. In fact, teens who learn about the risk of drugs from their parents are 50% less likely to use drugs.

In order to face this growing problem, parents need to be proactive by having regular discussions with their teens and tweens about medicine abuse. Parents also need to monitor the items in their medicine cabinet and keep a record of the amounts in each bottle. Also, listening to your teen’s language, as abusing medicine is referred to on their circles as “skittling”, “tussin'”, “robo-tripping”, “CCC”, “triple C’s”, and “dexing”.

Some signs of medicine abuse include the following:

Empty cough medicine bottles/boxes in the trash of your child’s room, backpack, or school locker
Loss of interest in hobbies or favorite activities
Changes in friends, physical appearance, sleeping, or eating patterns
Declining grades

I’ve had discussions with both my son and my daughter about medicine abuse and everything that it entails. Was it a hard conversation to have? Yes. Was I nervous? Yes. But in the end, I am glad I did it and will continue doing it for their health, well-being, and safety.

If you have a teen or tween aged child, I suggest that if you haven’t already, discuss medicine abuse with them. Bookmark the Stop Medicine Abuse website for tips, tools, and insight.

Make sure to visit #ToMyTeen and participate in this movement. I would love to see all of your photos!

Below is additional information on medicine abuse:

Disclaimer: I was compensated for this post, however, the views and opinions expressed belong to me and are not indicative of the brand(s) mentioned.