Do you keep, or have you kept, drugs where your kids or other members of your household can get them?
Let’s play a little Q & A game that I like to call: “My Kid Would Never…”
Question #1: Have you ever filled a doctor’s prescription for a painkiller?
Question #2: Have you ever put a pill bottle on a sink, side-table, kitchen counter, or bathroom medicine cabinet?
Question #3: Do you ever leave your house to go to dinner or the store and leave your teenagers home alone?
Question #4: Would your kid ever try your prescription painkillers if he/she had pain?
BUT, MY kid would NEVER…!
Okay, so your kid would never ever touch your prescription drugs. Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt. Moving along…
Question #5: Have you ever had a teenage babysitter over to care for your kids?
Question #6: Have you ever allowed a housecleaner, pet sitter, care provider, into your home?
Question #7: Do your teenagers have friends over to the house?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may unwittingly be contributing to the spread of this epidemic of drug abuse.
The saddest thing is, a nice babysitter might start in your medicine cabinet and, because both are opiates, end up a junkie on the street selling her body for a hit of smack.
The truth is ugly. Really ugly. What can a parent do? I’ve been doing some research. Check in again next week.