Learn how to help prevent teen prescription drug abuse

Teen Rx drug abuse facts

• 6 percent of 12th graders report using narcotic drugs, among the most dangerous of prescription medications
• 14 percent of 12th graders report using one or more of these prescription drugs—narcotics, sedatives, tranquilizers, and/or amphetamines
• 3 percent of 10th graders report using the narcotic pain reliever OxyContin
• 18 percent of high school students report taking a prescription drug without a prescription
• Most teens report getting prescription medications from friends or relatives
• Teens today perceive fewer risks associated with misusing or abusing prescription stimulants than did their peers in 2009

Source: Johnston, L. D., O’Malley, P. M., Miech, R.A.,Bachman, J. G., & Schulenberg, J. E. (2015). Monitoring the Future national results on adolescent drug use: Overview of key findings, 2014. Ann Arbor, Mich.: Institute for Social Research, the University of Michigan.

This resource was created by NCPIE, in partnership with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and 15 nationally recognized prevention, health professional and child advocacy organizations. A Project Advisory Team of experts guided the workshop’s development and focus.

Abusing Rx Drugs …

• Increases blood pressure or heart rate
• Damages brain and other organs
• Can cause poisoning and overdose
• Creates physical dependence and addiction
• Disrupts breathing
• May cause seizures
• Increases risks associated with mixing multiple drugs and/or combining drugs with alcohol
• Increases risk of death

Maximizing Your Role as a Teen Influencer: What You Can Do to Help Prevent Teen Prescription Drug Abuse is a comprehensive workshop for teen influencers—parents, grandparents, teachers, coaches, community and school-based healthcare providers, and others individuals who interact with teens. The workshop is designed to help educate audiences about teen prescription drug abuse.

Workshop components and objectives

Maximizing Your Role as a Teen Influencer: What You Can Do to Help Prevent Teen Prescription Drug Abuse workshop is an interactive program designed for a community setting. Presenters can be any individuals with a connection to the community and don’t need any specialized training. The workshop materials provide everything you’ll need for a one-hour presentation. During the workshop, participants will

• Learn about prescription (Rx) drug abuse by teens
• Learn how their roles as teen influencers can help prevent teen Rx drug abuse
• Learn facts about teen Rx drug abuse to combat common myths
• Be empowered to talk to other teen influencers about Rx abuse

Workshop materials include:

• Fact sheets on common myths about prescription drug abuse by teens
• Handouts describing warning signs and symptoms of prescription drug abuse by teens
• Strategies to use to talk with teens about prescription drug abuse
• Suggestions for promoting your workshop in your community
• Role-playing scenarios to practice workshop skills

Your role as a presenter

You don’t need any special training to organize and present the Maximizing Your Role as a Teen Influencer: What You Can Do to Help Prevent Teen Prescription Drug Abuse workshop. You don’t have to be a healthcare professional or an expert on teen prescription drug abuse.

Your presentation will educate other teen influencers about prescription drug abuse by teens. The workshop also includes resources you can share to enhance their outreach efforts.

Getting started

Everything you need to conduct the workshop is provided in easy-to-follow instructions in the Presenter’s Guide. You’ll learn step-by-step instructions for how to organize each section of the workshop, as well as how to promote it in your community.

The workshop takes approximately one hour to complete:

• Welcome and Introductions (10 minutes)
• Presentation (25-30 minutes)
• Role Playing Activity (15 minutes)
• Wrap Up and Evaluation (10 minutes)

In the Presenter’s Guide you’ll find

• A Presenter’s checklist with an organized list of tasks to do before, the day of and after your workshop
• Role play scenarios include real-life situations to engage parents, teachers, coaches, healthcare providers and other teen influencers and make the workshop more interactive
• Key messages provide teen influencers with a snapshot of important information about teen prescription drug abuse

A PowerPoint presentation with a script and suggested talking points also is available to help you organize the worshop.

The Presenter’s Guide includes these materials, which are also available below as individual PDFs for participants:

• A Troubling Trend: Why Teens Turn to Prescription Drugs
• Warning Signs and Symptoms of Prescription Drug Abuse
• Myth Busters: 6 Myths about Teens and Prescription Drug Abuse
• You Can Make a Difference (a series of handouts tailored to different teen influencer groups; each includes practical tips and strategies that parents, educators, healthcare providers and others can use to help prevent prescription drug abuse among teens at home, school, on the field, in the clinic or at the local pharmacy)
• Brochures for parents, teens, educators and healthcare providers

For more information on ordering multiple copies of the Teen Influencer brochures pictured to the right, please click on the links below.

• Educators brochure
• Healthcare Providers brochure
• Sample commitment card to give participants the opportunity to commit to do something to help address the problem in some way following the workshop
• Sample promotional materials
• Language for email invitation
• Flyer for posting at various sites in your workplace and community
• Participant Evaluation Form—for attendees to complete at the end of the workshop
• Presenter Evaluation Form—for you to complete after presenting each workshop

Maximizing Your Role as a Teen Influencer Workshop module to educate and equip teen influencers—parents, grandparents, teachers, coaches, community and school-based healthcare providers and others—with credible information addressing the growing problem of prescription drug abuse by teens and effective strategies to take action to help prevent it. Produced by NCPIE per Task Order HHSP233200900422P, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), with additional support provided by Purdue Pharma LP and the National Association of Chain Drug Stores Foundation.