One of the things we Five Moms often remind parents to do is to keep the family medicine cleaned out – and to keep an eye on it. “Spring-cleaning season” is the perfect time to take up this challenge and to take advantage of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)’s National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day to be held Saturday, April 28, 2012, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with local collection sites across the country. This is a great opportunity to take an inventory of medicines in your home and safely discard of any unwanted, unused or expired medicines – including over-the-counter medicines, which can disposed of at the take-back sites as well. To locate a collection site, visit the DEA website.

Not only are these events the ideal place to dispose of your family’s medicines, they are also the ideal place to share information from StopMedicineAbuse.org and to talk to other parents about cough medicine abuse.

Parents attending the take-back days likely know that teen abuse of prescription drugs is on the rise – but do they know that 5 percent of teens abuse over-the-counter cough medicine? You can make sure they do! Dropping off a stack of StopMedicineAbuse.org pamphlets at your local location site is a simple way to reach parents in your community!

Also, don’t be scared to stick around for a while to seize opportunities talk to other parents. I know that sometimes we feel hesitant to talk to other parents about their teens because we fear being perceived as intrusive or judgmental, but in my experience as a D.A.R.E. officer and a mom, I have found that most parents appreciate it when other parents express genuine concern. After all, we’re all in this together – just tell them you are taking part in the Five Moms campaign!