Extra Friday videos this week are not funny, so be warned.
Prescription drug abuse among children: big fucking problem. Huge. And many, many people don’t know it’s happening within their families.
When I was a kid, this PSA from Long Island ran during the summer (or maybe because I was in Jersey I saw it during the summer). When I was a teenager, I remember giggling at it, thinking, “Wait, if you take the prescription pills, will the other pills start singing?!”
It never occurred to me, though, to take someone else’s prescriptions. I have a big honkin’ allergy to most painkillers, and can only take very few prescription analgesic medications. Because of the rampant abuse of prescription narcotics, I have to go through several crazy-ass steps to acquire pain medication (which were a royal, well, pain when, post c-section, I couldn’t drive). Because I know how sought-after prescription painkillers are, though, I have my driver’s license out at the pharmacy the way I take my shoes off at the airport – it’s automatic and understood.
This week’s Friday video was inspired by Teresa Medeiros’ sad account of losing her nephew Daniel from an accidental overdose of prescription medication:
If you know a kid that you suspect is in trouble, act. Open a dialogue. Confront. Get the rest of the family involved if you have to. Don’t just assume they’ll grow out of it.
Because they might not get the chance.
I wish I had a link to the Carroll O’Connor PSA from a few years ago, but I’ll quote him, though it’s not as effective as hearing him: “Get between your kids and drugs any way you can if you want to save the kid`s life.”
For more information about prescription drug abuse, visit TheAntiDrug.com. Or ask your nearest teenager. Your jaw may drop at what they can tell you.
I remember the singing pills ad,too(I live in Westchester county,so that little ditty was playing around the time my sister was a kid-we both thought it was goofy) and am glad,oddly enough, that this issue is getting better coverage these days.
This commercial does a good job of driving the point home:
The kid in this one has sort of an Eddie Haskell vibe:
I couldn’t understand a word the singing pills sang. I also never understood anything Donald Duck said, and I had a hard time understanding the singing chipmunks. On the other hand, I have a good ear for dialects. Go figure.
“We’re not candy (Believe me!) Even though we look so fine and dandy. When you’re sick, we come in handy, BUT – We’re not Candy. Ooohhhh NO!”
The sad part? Didn’t even have to run the clip to remember this excerpt. I used to croon this all the time in high school. I dunno why I liked it so much (total straight arrow in high school when it came to drugs) but it rank right up there with the cheese cowboy on my list of favorite Saturday morning/weekday afternoon PSAs (“Look, a wagon wheel!”).
OK – next time I’ll read the full post and recognize the serious bent before gleefully chiming in. I remember O’Connell’s PSA too and I read Mederios’ touching post.