Stop worrying so much about your teenager using illicit drugs and lock the medicine cabinet. Teen drug abuse is on the rise...sort of. Teens are abusing prescription drugs at an alarming rate compared to the use of the usual culprits such as marijuana and ecstasy.

It's confirmed by the results of the latest national survey on drug use. Marijuana still leads the way, but abuse of prescription drugs among teens is a close second. The rise coincides with the increases use of painkillers nationwide in the 1990s. 20% of teenagers reported using prescription painkillers to get high.

Misuse of prescription medications can be dangerous for anyone not only teens. Talk to your teen about prescription drug abuse. Just because doctors can prescribe certain medications doesn't make them any safer than illicit drugs especially when they're used in a way other than that prescribed by a physician.

Teen use of prescription drugs most certainly has risen because they're much easier to obtain. When all you have to do is raid the family medicine cabinet, it's not real difficult and it doesn't cost any money either. Prescription drugs can become psychologically and physically addictive just as illicit drugs if they are abused repeatedly.

Prescription drugs can be dangerous enough when abused but when you combine them with other drugs or alcohol, the synergistic effects can be dangerous and even deadly in extreme cases. Abusing antidepressant medications over a long period of time leads to the possibility of physical dependence and even addiction. Pain killers are another popular prescription drug of choice for teens.

In addition to talking to your children about teen drug abuse, don't make it easy for them to obtain prescription drugs. Don't keep them in easy to access places like medicine cabinets. Keep your prescription drugs in a secret place where only you will find them. Teens can't abuse prescription drugs if they aren't even aware of their existence. Also keep tabs on how many pills you have each day. That way you can easily tell if any are missing and address a potentially serious problem before it gets worse.

If you're aware of any of your child’s friend’s parents or other family members taking prescription medications talk to them too. They should be interested enough in the well being of their children to take measures that will potentially stop teen drug abuse.

Other than taking preventive measures be aware of changes in behavior with your teenage children. Also take note of who they are hanging out with. If your teen’s circle of friends suddenly changes, you should pay close attention for any signs of teen drug use. Also if your teen’s grades get worse or if their schoolwork generally suffers, there may be outside influences such as teen drug abuse to blame.

You remember your teenage years with puberty, high school, peer pressure and everything else that happens during the teenage years. And you probably remember some teens in your school turning to drugs, right? Don't be so naive as to think it can't happen to you. Be an active parent and help prevent teen drug abuse.