Community Corner

Preventing Prescription Addiction Among Teens

More teens are choosing the medicine cabinet over the liquor cabinet, and this is becoming a growing trend.

There is a new growing trend among young adults in Dedham, and it may be causing more damage than one may think. 

Since January 2011 Dedham has had 19 deaths caused by prescription drug abuse. And according to , it's becoming one of the leading causes for the robberies and break-ins that are happening in the area since the money is being used to buy these prescription drugs.

"These car thefts and house break-ins ... stealing silverware from their families- it's really all we do," Officer Kevin Mahoney says. "We spend 50 percent of our time at pawn shops."

During the Drug Discussion that was held as part of the National Night Out campaign, it was mentioned that parents need to take a more active role in educating their teens. 

This is due to the fact that opiate abuse is becoming more common among young adults. Officer Mahoney believes that we need to get rid of any concept on what a prescription drug abuser looks like.

"These are usually good kids ... it crosses every income level, race lines, even jobs...," Officer Mahoney says.

The Dedham Police Department is hoping schools can take an active role in educating students about the dangers of using prescription pain medication such as opiates, especially since this type of abuse can easily lead to heroin.

"I really don't like that this whole heroin thing is becoming a tragedy for our kids," Officer Mahoney says.  "...This is something stronger than [parents] can ever imagine."

According to the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) prescription drug abuse is the third leading cause of death in Massachusetts followed by heart disease and cancer.  And between 2002 and 2007 there were over 3,200 deaths across Massachusetts. During that same period we lost 78 soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Officer Mahoney said he believes the amount of petty crimes will go down once these young adults seek the help they need. And he believes these teens and their parents shouldn't feel that seeking for help will be the end of the line.

"No one wants to see their kid get in trouble, but no one has to serve jail time to get the help they need," Officer Mahoney says.  In a hearing, if someone agrees to go to a detox facility they can dismiss it for a year and it doesn't even go on their record."

Find out what's happening in Dedhamwith free, real-time updates from Patch.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here