Even Teens Follow Your Lead On Handling Prescription Drugs

You may think they are not listening, but teens follow your lead on a lot of things.

The Garrett County Health Department’s Just Like You! campaign reminds adults to make sure they show kids how to be responsible about prescription drugs by minimizing the use of prescription pain killers. Alternatives such as ice packs, elevation, or properly used over the counter medications can reduce the need for prescriptions.

Other important issues include always following the directions for dosage and never taking extra or sharing prescriptions with anyone else.

Storing and disposing of prescriptions appropriately is especially important to avoid the chance that someone, especially kids, could take your prescriptions and abuse them. To remove that possibility, old or unwanted prescriptions can be dropped off at one of the local drop boxes, at Garrett County Sherriff’s Office, McHenry Maryland State Police Barracks, or the Oakland Town Hall.

For more information, go to copycatfun.com. The website provides many resources on the importance of adult positive role models for children (developmental asset #14-ADULT ROLE MODELS) and keeping children safe from prescription drug poisoning (asset #10-SAFETY).

The Just Like You! campaign is brought to you by the Garrett County Health Department and partially funded by Maryland Department of Health and SAMHSA. Call the health department at 301-334-7730 or 301-895-3111 for more information.

Cutline: Kids, even teens, want to be Just Like You! This health department campaign reminds adults that kids are always watching. In this still shot from a campaign video, Kaysi Todd thanks her grandma, Mary Lou Stemple, for being smart about prescription drug safety and locking up her medications. To watch the video, visit copycatfun.com.

By Diane Lee, Public Information Officer, Garrett County Health Department