Although drugs such as heroin, cocaine, crack or ecstasy seem to get all the attention, the rate of prescription drug abuse among teens has grown at a higher rate than illegal drugs.

In 2003, 2.3 million kids between the ages of 12 and 17 admitted to abusing prescription medication according to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse. It is reported that 83.4 percent abused opiates such as Oxycontin, Vicodin, Dilaudid, 24.6 percent tranquilizers such as Valium, Xanax, 5.6 percent sedatives such as Seconal and 25.1 percent stimulants such as Adderall or Ritalin.

An additional statistic reported is that teens who abuse prescription medication are twice as likely to abuse alcohol, five times more likely to abuse marijuana, 12 times more likely to abuse heroin and 15 times more likely to abuse ecstasy.

With all of these statistics comes an awakening of sorts, as it is relatively simple for children of all ages to gain access to prescription medication. Medicine cabinets or dresser drawers where parents generally store their medications are easily accessed. Prescription medications are also readily available on the internet. In 2004, CASA found hundreds of web sites selling prescription medication and only 6 percent of them even required a prescription. In 2005 opiates were being made available on a higher percentage of sites than 2004 and 95 percent of the sites that sell steroids, did so without a prescription.

When it is all said and done, parents need to pay close attention to how much access their children have to their prescription medication and to what internet sites their children are visiting. While you can