If you’ve never heard of Robo-tripping, Dex-ing, or Skittling, then you should read this post

Did you know that it is becoming increasingly common for teens to take cough medicine to get high? Currently, one in ten teens has abused cough medicine. One in ten! That is a frightening statistic, especially considering that virtually every household in America has cough medicine sitting out in their medicine cabinets.

Until last week, I would have thought nothing of keeping cough medicine within reach of teenage children. That is, until I was contacted by the Five Moms Campaign.

Five Moms is a group of, you guessed it, five real moms who have started a campaign to get the word out about this issue. Their mission? To tell other moms about the dangers of teen cough medicine abuse. The idea is that they tell five moms, who tell five moms, who tell five moms and so on, until families are armed with the information they need to prevent their children from falling victim to cough medicine abuse.

And believe me, abusing cough medicine can have tragic consequences – especially when (as often occurs) it is taken in combination with other prescription drugs, illicit drugs, or alcohol.

If you visit the Five Moms website, you can read the story of Christy Crandell whose oldest son, then 18-years-old, was arrested for armed robbery while high on over-the-counter cough medicine and marijuana. He is now serving a 13-year prison sentence. When you read about their family before this tragedy, it is easy to see how this could happen to any family.

It’s up to us as parents to be aware of the issue, educate ourselves, and then spread the word to others.

So, what can you do? It’s easy:

Got one minute? Spread the word to your friends and other parents in your community! Just click here and fill out a simple form to send your friends a pre-written message about the issue. (And not that they needed to bribe us to do this, but when you send the message to five moms you know, the Five Moms Campaign will send you a manicure kit.)

Got 30 minutes? Spread the word to other parent bloggers!
Write a post about this on your blog and link back to the Five Moms website.

Want to learn more?
Visit the Five Moms website at http://www.fivemoms.com

* If you hear your kids or their friends talking about Dex, DXM, Skittles, Syrup, Tussin, Triple-C, or CCC, that’s code for cough medicine. Or if you hear them talking about Robo-tripping, Dex-ing, Robo-fizzing, or Skittling, that’s slang for abusing cough medicine.