Is Your Child a Drug Dealer?
When did you last fill your medication prescription? If you, like me, can't remember the date, then you don't know exactly how many pills should be left right now. When I'm low, I refill it and that's the end of it. If any of my pills are missing, the only culprits are my partners in crime - my cats Moby and Black Magic.
Your missing pills might be more sinister. Do you have kids aged 12 - 17? This is the most common age range for addiction to prescription pills taken right out of your medicine cabinet. Five or six pills removed from several full bottles are hardly noticeable, and your on the ball, right? Imagine your children's grandparents with numerous prescriptions and a little less attention to detail. Recipe for disaster.
No one wants to believe their child has crossed over to the dark side. But in crime analysis, ignorance is not bliss. Keep private records of when you fill your prescriptions and routinely count remaining pills. Hopefully all will check out. If something's fishy, consider this alarming trend of school kids bringing prescription drugs to campus. The Office of National Drug Control Policy says at least 2,500 children try a pain killer for the first time every day in the U.S.
I'm aware of children using the drugs and becoming addicted, selling the pills to classmates, or both. Besides the obvious dangers, children caught with prescription pills at school that they are not prescribed can face serious charges, like Class A felonies punishable by up to 50 years in prison.
"Pharming" parties are like Russian roulette without a gun. Kids bring the stolen pills to school and meet at a location where all the pills are poured into a bowl. They reach in, take a handful of unknown medication and see what happens; not the kind of "Truth or Dare" game from my childhood.
If your child takes ADHD medication, think twice about the trend I'm describing. Adderall is one of the most commonly sold and traded drugs on school campuses. Kids who have prescriptions have been approached to sell or trade their pills and they become walking talking medicine cabinets.
I hope your kids stay safe from this dangerous illegal activity. Help protect them by checking your stash regularly.
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Some good points on seeming petty theft here.
Frankly, I had never given this much thought.
Welcome, Jack. Yes, this kind of 'dealing' takes people by surprise. It's definitely influencing the natural order on the streets; my city's drug arrests are down pretty significantly. Of course, there will always be street sales and cartels, but if kids can get product out of the medicine cabinet or at school campus, why go to the alley downtown? Makes sense to me. And that's not to mention the cash flow end of it.