Survey notes drop in meth use among teens while OTC, prescription drug abuse remains high

NEW YORK Among teens, meth abuse is down and dextromethorphan abuse is not on the rise. That suggests that efforts to curb teen drug abuse, no matter what the abused drug may be, is making some headway. But that also suggests there’s still a significant need to continue raising awareness around the dangers associated with abuse.

“Ultimately, the findings mean that we here at Five Moms still have a lot of work to do when it comes to raising awareness about this behavior,” opined Misty Fetko, one of the Five Moms first tapped by the Consumer Healthcare Products Association in 2007 as part of an effort to raise awareness around teen drug abuse, in a blog on the site following the survey release. To date, CHPA’s Five Moms campaign has reached more than 24 million parents with its messaging.

The fact is, teenagers whose parents talk to them on a regular basis about the dangers of drug use are 42% less likely to use drugs than those whose parents don’t. Here’s another statistic from the Five Moms Campaign — 83% of U.S. parents report feeling prepared to talk to their kids about cough medicine abuse; however, only 21% report having done it.

If 1-of-every-5 parents talking to their children has stabilized something like dextromethorphan abuse (abuse rates are no longer on the rise), then what happens if 2-of-every-5 parents begin talking to their children about drug abuse?