Street Names: Adderall, Dexedrine, Ritalin
Looks Like: Tablets or Capsules
How It's Used/Abused: Swallowed, injected or snorted
What Teens Have Heard: "Keeps you active and focused."
Short and Long Term Effects: Taking high doses may result in dangerously high body temperatures and an irregular heartbeat. Potential for heart attacks or lethal seizures.
Signs of Abuse: Lack of appetite, increased alertness, increased attention span, increased energy. Medicine bottles present without illness, prescription bottles missing, disrupted eating and sleeping patterns.
Every Parent Should Know: Many teens abuse this prescribed medication to help them cram for exams or suppress their appetite.
Talk to Your Kids: For more information on talking with teens about alcohol and other drugs, go to the Talk to Your Kids page.
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Safe Storage
When storing your medication, it is important to keep them out of reach and inaccesible to your kids. This could be in a room, cabinet, or drawer that is locked as well as a box that is specifically designed for the safe keeping of medications. These can be found at many home organiztion stores or online by seaching for "medicine lock boxes." Below are a couple examples of these lock boxes.
Medicine Disposal
Old or unused medications should be disposed of properly to ensure they don't get into the wrong hands or do unintended harm. Avoid flushing pills and liquid medications down the toilet, as this can contaminate the water supply. Instead, follow one of the methods below:
1) Find a drop box location:
(Arizona Department of Health Services)
2) Find a community based Rx take-back event:
(U.S. Dept. of Justice, Drug Encorcement Agency)
3) Self Disposal
If the first two method of disposing of your medications aren't available to you, you can follow these steps
"1. Remove labeling from the pill bottle. Do not crush the pills or open capsules.
2. Mix the drugs with an unpleasant substance, such as kitty litter or coffee grounds.
3. Put the drugs and unpleasant substance in the garbage separate from the pill bottle."
-Safe Drug Disposal Guide from the Partnership fo Drug-Free Kids
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