Take control of your medicine chest in 5 simple steps
The American Medicine Chest Challenge
- Take inventory of your prescription and over-the-counter medicines
- Lock your medicine chest.
- Dispose of unused medicine properly in your home or at periodic community collection events. For more information on safe disposal of prescription and over-the-counter medications visit: http://www.smarxtdisposal.net
- Take your medicine(s) exactly as prescribed.
- Talk to your children about the dangers of prescription drug abuse...they are listening. Click here for useful parenting tips: Preventing Teen Abuse of Prescription Drugs and Facts On Prescription and Over-The-Counter Drugs.
For additional information visit Partnership for a Drug-Free America, National Institude on Drug Abuse, Stop Medicine Abuse and National Family Partnership.
National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign
The National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign has created a series of TV commercials to prevent and reduce youth drug use. Under the management of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the Campaign is a strategically integrated communications effort that combines advertising with public communications outreach to deliver anti-drug messages to America’s youth, their parents, and other influential adults.
Parents who host, lose the most
Is a public awareness campaign designed to educate parents about the health and safety risks of serving alcohol to teens as well as the legal ramifications in New York of permitting alcohol to be consumed in their home by anyone other than their own child, even with the other parents’ permission.
The "Parents Who Host" campaign runs each year from April through June during Prom and Graduation season when underage drinking parties are more prevalent. The intent is to reach parents and other adults with this important message through different methods across the community.
The campaign was developed by Drug-Free Action Alliance in 2000. www.drugfreeactionalliance.org For a recent article about the legal consequences for adults serving liquor to minors, see Teen drinking leads to crackdown on 'cool' parents. A Few Facts about Underage Use of Alcohol:
- 29% of 1,382 parents surveyed and 29% of 812 teens surveyed indicated that they know of parents who host teen alcohol parties. (Source: “Parents Who Host, Lose The Most: Don’t be a party to teenage drinking” Evaluation Report, December 2006)• 25% of 812 teens surveyed indicated that they have attended a party where alcohol is served to underage youth in the past two months, while parents thought the number was closer to 15%; 12% of the youth maintained that they drank alcohol at the party or they would have drunk if they had attended a party. (Source: “Parents Who Host, Lose The Most: Don’t be a party to teenage drinking” Evaluation Report, December 2006)
- 68% of 1,382 parents surveyed and 61% of 812 teens surveyed said that it is generally easy for underage youth to get alcohol. (Source: “Parents Who Host, Lose The Most: Don’t be a party to teenage drinking” Evaluation Report, December 2006)
- Every day, 5,400 young people under 16 have their first drink of alcohol. (Source: Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth with calculations from Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2004 National Survey on Drug Use and Health)
- Studies reveal that alcohol consumption by adolescents results in brain damage - possibly permanent -and impairs intellectual development. (Source: Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research (Volume 24, Number 2 National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, February 2000)
- Adolescents drink less and have fewer alcohol-related problems when their parents discipline them consistently and set clear expectations. (Source: Hawkins JD, Graham JW, Maguin E, et al. 1997 Exploring the effects of age of alcohol use initiation and psychosocial risk factors on subsequent alcohol misuse. Journal of Studies on Alcohol. 58(3): 280-290
- If drinking is delayed until age 21, a child’s risk of serious alcohol problems is decreased by 70 percent. (Source: Calculated from information contained in: Grant BF, Dawson DA. 1997, Age at onset of alcohol use and its association with DSM-IV alcohol abuse and dependence. Results from the National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey. Journal of Substance Abuse 9:103-110.)
Risk and protective factors
Our youth are exposed to both risk and protective factors. Research has shown that minimizing the risk factors and maximizing the protective factors helps to reduce substance use.
Protective Factors
These are also known as assets or conditions that buffer youth from exposure to risk by either reducing the impact of the risks or changing the way that young people respond to risks.
Risk Factors
Conditions that increase the likelihood of a young person becoming involved in drug or alcohol use.
Drug & Alcohol Hotline
Tri-Municipality Underage Drinking Hotline - (914) 381-6103
Parents, neighbors, siblings, friends and any residents who want to anonymously report a party forming at a local golf course, in the woods, on the trails, or at a house where there is no apparent adult supervision, can call this completely anonymous hotline; the police will respond.
The hotline is a tri-municipality service. Persons spotting a potential problem in the Town of Mamaroneck or Villages of Larchmont or Mamaroneck can call (914) 381-6103.
You won't be ruining a teen's future; you might be saving a life. Program this number into your cell phone today . . . and your teen's cell phone too! Kids become uncomfortable when they find themselves at parties where things are getting out of hand, and often don’t know what to do about it. Having this number can give your teen a way to quietly and anonymously do the right thing and call for help.
It’s time to change the trends in our community. If you observe or know of stores selling cigarettes, beer or alcohol to minors, or know of a party where teens are using these things, please call this hotline. Let's keep our eyes open and our kids safe.
