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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, Household medicine cabinets pose a danger to the | ||||||
| 3 | health and safety of children and young adults; medicine | ||||||
| 4 | cabinets may contain pain relievers, anti-depressants, | ||||||
| 5 | anti-hypertensives, and a myriad of other medications that can | ||||||
| 6 | harm children; medications prescribed for parents or others in | ||||||
| 7 | a household may appear safe and benign to some young children; | ||||||
| 8 | children can often mistakenly think that medicine cabinets | ||||||
| 9 | contain only "safe" medications that "mom" gives them when they | ||||||
| 10 | are sick; and
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| 11 | WHEREAS, Some teens may experiment with prescription | ||||||
| 12 | drugs; it is becoming increasingly common for teenagers to | ||||||
| 13 | abuse pain medications or over-the-counter (OTC) medications; | ||||||
| 14 | and
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| 15 | WHEREAS, The abuse of drugs can have a very damaging effect | ||||||
| 16 | on the still-developing brains of children and young adults; | ||||||
| 17 | prescription and OTC medications that are abused or used for | ||||||
| 18 | non-medical reasons can alter brain activity and lead to | ||||||
| 19 | dependence; and
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| 20 | WHEREAS, It is imperative that children and teens know that | ||||||
| 21 | prescription medications, OTC medications, and other common | ||||||
| 22 | items in household medicine cabinets are potentially dangerous | ||||||
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| 1 | and should not be used improperly or without parental | ||||||
| 2 | supervision; and
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| 3 | WHEREAS, Parents need to be informed of the potential | ||||||
| 4 | danger to their children of common medications lurking inside | ||||||
| 5 | their medicine cabinets and urged to check their medicine | ||||||
| 6 | cabinets and discard any prescription drugs that are no longer | ||||||
| 7 | required to treat a medical condition so that these medications | ||||||
| 8 | are not available to be misused or accidentally ingested; | ||||||
| 9 | therefore, be it
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| 10 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
| 11 | NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | ||||||
| 12 | urge universities and K-12 schools throughout Illinois to warn | ||||||
| 13 | children and young adults about the dangers of prescription and | ||||||
| 14 | over-the-counter drugs, to encourage physicians and | ||||||
| 15 | pharmacists to alert parents to the inherent dangers of these | ||||||
| 16 | drugs, and to encourage parents to keep these medications out | ||||||
| 17 | of their children's reach; and be it further
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| 18 | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be made | ||||||
| 19 | available to all K-12 schools, colleges, universities, | ||||||
| 20 | educational institutions, physicians' offices, and healthcare | ||||||
| 21 | facilities in the State of Illinois.
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