As many of you know, we have recently helped the Stop Medicine Abuse initiative kick off a new Facebook addition to our online community. While recently visiting the site, I saw a really interesting comment from one of our members, Katie, who asked for some additional information on OTC medicine abuse since she was preparing a speech on the topic.

The Stop Medicine Abuse team provided Katie with some information such as a sample PowerPoint presentation and a list of treatment centers for families already experiencing a substance-abuse problem, but there are many more resources beyond those on the Stop Medicine Abuse and Five Moms web sites that are free and easy to use. It is great to see how active the Facebook community has become and it is also a great reminder that there is a lot of information available that you can use to make sure your community is aware of teen medicine abuse.

Think about the different places you will run into your neighbors and other parents this summer. Use the summer months, when you often see other parents at a community center, the local pool, a Little League game, or a neighborhood block party, to bring up the issue of OTC medicine abuse. If you research in advance, you’ll have some quick facts that you can add to a conversation and direct other parents to resources they can read when they have more time.

If you are interested in a more personal approach, send your friends a link to a testimonial provided on WhatisDXM.com. It is a good way to foster conversation between parents and teens. Also visit the Teen Drug Abuse of Cough & Cold Medicines section of WebMD. There is a video, articles, and a lot more information, including links back to StopMedicineAbuse.org.

By helping to actively provide your friends, family, and community members with these tools and information, they can join the fight to prevent OTC cough medicine abuse in teens. Also, you can see that our Stop Medicine Abuse Facebook page is continuing to grow and inform the conversation, so if you have not visited, check it out today!