A new study reveals that prescription drug abuse among teenagers is on the rise and suggests that parents talk to their children about the hazards associated with abusing drugs like Ritalin and Adderall.
"For parents, it really comes down to not using the power they have because they don't think this is an immediate problem, meaning their own home, own neighborhood kind of thing," said Steve Pasierb, president of The Partnership at Drugfree.org---the nonprofit group that released the report.
"They believe that this is probably a safer way, not as bad as illegal street drugs."
The findings reveal that only 14 percent of the 3,884 teenage subjects surveyed for the study had a conversation about prescription drug abuse with their parents, while 81 percent said they did have conversations about the risks associated with marijuana use.
And some parents, out of the 817 involved in the study, did not believe that prescription drug abuse comes with much risk.
For every six parents surveyed for the research, one said that using prescription drugs to get high was safer than using street drugs, while one-third of the parents said that using medications to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, ADHD, were effective tools to raise academic performance even if their child does not have ADHD.
The study also revealed that one-in-four teens have either misused or abused a prescription drug at least once---about a 33 percent increase within the past five years.
And more specifically, one-in-eight teens said that they abused or misused the ADHD medications Ritalin or Adderall.
Pasierb encourages parents talk to their children about prescription drug abuse early and often.
"They need to tell their children that this isn't health for you and it will break my heart if you do this," he said.
This study was sponsored by the MetLife Foundation.