Preventing Teen Prescription Drug Abuse

Prescription drug abuse kills more people in the United States each year than cocaine and heroine combined. A six-year study on the efficacy of programs designed to curb teenage prescription drug abuse finds that school-based programs are largely ineffective unless they are coupled with home-based interventions. Still, even the best programs only decrease abuse rates by 10% suggesting that parents, educators, communities, and local governments need to work together to find better interventions to stop teenaged prescription drug abuse.
Preventive Medicine, February 2014