Recently, some retailers prohibited children under the age of 18 from purchasing over-the-counter cough medicines that contain dextromethorphan.
While these efforts represent a commitment to address the problem of teen cough medicine abuse at a community level, they do not mitigate the role that we, as parents, play in preventing or stopping this substance abuse problem.
Research consistently shows that parents are a very important influence in their teens' lives. Teens who learn about drugs at home are half as likely to abuse drugs. Including information about cough medicine abuse in these "drug talks" is a major goal of the Five Moms Campaign. We want to make sure parents are aware of the problem and talk to their kids about it.
Although it can be easy to forget, we parents have the power to affect this problem. Education is the key.
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Get involved with the Five Moms Campaign, brought to you by the leading makers of cough medicine and the Consumer Healthcare Products Association.
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Comments: 8
I imagine can only imagine that this sucks for those who are legitimately ill and may need to purchase their own meds (either because the parents aren't around, or the parents are completely apathetic towards the issue of the child's health)... and for the mother who may send her son out for something when she's knocked flat on her back from a bad flu because it makes more sense than hopping in the car and driving to the market herself when she's tired, dizzy, feverish, lightheaded, unable to concentrate, fatigued.
Beyond that, I don't see it doing any good. Since the higher regulation on products containing psudophedrine, *I* can't buy effective cough medicine these days (because I lack ID), buuuut I've yet to hear that the meth problem in this country has dramatically declined. People who are eager to abuse substances will find ways to obtain them. Prohibition doesn't work; history has proved this time and time again.