All You Need to Know About Prescription and OTC Drugs in 17 Minutes

Gr 5–9—Anyone who thinks prescription or over the counter drugs are safer than street drugs will learn otherwise from this brief but informative video. Two teen narrators guide viewers through 12 segments ranging from defining what these drugs are to describing the health risks caused by abusing them. Their presentation is natural and conversational. The danger of taking a prescription that was intended for someone else is stressed. Testimonies from doctors, substance abuse specialists, pharmacists, educators, and parents who lost children to drug overdoses are featured. Footage of teen actors depicting the effects of abusing drugs is interspersed throughout. Most effective are the regrets expressed by recovering addicts who discuss how addiction caused them to make disastrous, life-altering decisions. Teens also discuss events they witnessed related to drug abuse, like when a boy's friend drank a bottle of cough syrup and experienced convulsions followed by 30 hours of vomiting. The dangerous effects of overdosing and mixing drugs are clearly stated. This film effectively presents the hazards of abusing prescription and OTC drugs.—Constance Dickerson, Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library, OH