Keep Kids Away From Drugs On Internet
Teens Say It's Easy To Get Prescriptions On The Web
POSTED: 5:25 p.m. EST November 11, 2003
Many parents worry about their kids getting drugs from friends at parties or from dealers at school, but there may be another source right in their own home.
"I know people who have purchased drugs off the Internet," said Andrew Klein, 16.
"I know people who have friends who have done it from online," said Katie Blackstad, also 16.
And Ana Fernandez, 14, says, "Actually I just heard about this kid a couple days ago trying to get Vicodin off the Internet."
In fact, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found that on 53 of the first 100 Web sites they searched, a child could buy codeine without a prescription, without age verification, without ever having seen a doctor.
Sue Rusche of the National Families in Action knows how many potentially dangerous Web sites are out there.
"You'll be horrified. You will get message, messages that say these drugs are safe. They're not going to hurt you. And if your parents tell you otherwise, they don't know what they're talking about," said Rusche.
The Internet is worldwide and too huge to count on the police or the FBI or the FDA to protect kids, she said.
Ana Fernandez has seen firsthand how easy it is to find these sites.
"All you have to do is put in 'I want some kind of medication' – just pretty much gets you there," she said.
Experts believe a parent's first defense is to know these Web sites are out there. Next, make sure your computer is in a family area, so you can supervise your kids while they're online. Search some of these sites without your kids; then, pick the ones you want to show your children.
"I think you use it as a teaching tool. You say there's stuff out here that's lying to you, because they're interested in the money in your pocket and they're don't care what happens to you. And let's find some of those places so you know not to believe them," Rusche said.
Stephanie May, 15, agrees that it is foolish to trust these online drug suppliers. "I think it's stupid to buy drugs from someone you don't know. I think it's stupid to buy drugs period," she said.
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