Teens are engaging in a frightening and extremely risky trend called pharming. Pharming has been around for many years however, it places teens at risk for sexual assaults and exploitation. The word is pharming, it is sounds like farming, and is shortened for pharmaceutical. A pharmaceutical is a prescription drug prescribed by a medical physician to treat specific medical conditions.

The word pharm or pharming is the act of acquiring prescription medications to be pooled with other medication and ingested at a later date or time. Teens often obtain prescription medications from family or friends medicine cabinets in the bathrooms of their homes. Any medication is acceptable to bring to a pharm party.

Pharm parties can take place anywhere, and to be received at a pharm party you must bring a prescription medication to be mixed in the bowl. This is your entrance fee per se. Each time someone arrives for the party the medication brought by that person is added to the main bowl and mixed up.

This is the scary part. After all the medications are mixed together party goers take turns ingesting the pills by the handful. Yet, the reality is no one knows what is in the bowl for sure and this poses the greatest risk as the pills are taken from various people and places and are usually old unused medications. The prescription medications once mixed together are called trail mix.

For some odd reason many teens feel using illicit street drugs is more dangerous than prescription medications. One reason may be that teens see prescription medications in their own home. Often these medications are used by their family members and seem harmless.

With easy access online teens often learn quickly how to score meds online form pop up online pharmacies. They purchase medication from the online pharmacies which are usually illegal fly by night operations, known as pill mills. Although many prescriptions are cheap to buy online, there is a greater risk of being caught by law enforcement.

Some of the different consequences include accidental or intentional overdose, or a drug interaction. Other concerns include addiction and withdrawal issues. The current trend of pharming resembles the pill popping parties of the 1970’s. The big difference between pharming and the 70’s is that earlier generations usually knew what pills were being popped. They also did not mix different pills together.

To prevent pharming it is imperative that parents educate their teens on the dangers of mixing medications. Also, proper disposal of any unused prescription medications is essential on a regular basis. Consider locking up any other home medications. When teens take unknown medications they may become disorientated and this would provide others an opportunity to sexually exploit or assault the teen. So please be aware of the dangers of pharming and help friends understand the dangers involved.

To dispose of unused medications contact your local pharmacy and police departments about accepting old medications. Another effective way to safely dispose of medications is to wrap them in old coffee grounds for several days and then throw the coffee grounds in the trash. This way no one can go through your trash and find prescription medications to use or sell.