“The Talk” has traditionally been a conversation between a parent and their teenager about either the dangers of underage drinking or acting responsibly when hormones kick in for the first time.

These discussions are extremely important for families. However, any adolescent teaching moment these days must also include an open and honest exchange about the dangers of prescription drug abuse.

Just take these very sobering statistics into consideration. Drug overdose deaths among teens 15 to 19 years old are up 91 percent in the past decade. And the vast majority of these deaths are because every day, 2,000 teens in this country are using prescription drugs for the first time for the sole purpose of getting high.

The year 2009 marked the first year that, overall, more people in the United States died from drug overdoses than from automobile accidents. And this happened primarily because our nation is abusing prescription drugs at unprecedented levels. In fact, more people abuse prescription drugs than the number of people who use cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin – combined.

To help parents find the resources they need to have ‘the talk’ with their kids before they even think about abusing drugs, we’ve teamed up with the Partnership at Drugfree.org to educate our community about the dangers that lurk in medicine cabinets.

A multi-year Medicine Abuse Project campaign begins this week to help bring much-needed attention to this epidemic and to educate the public about the dangers of abusing prescription and over-the-counter medicines.

As their partners in this initiative, we will help promote the Drug Enforcement Administration’s fifth National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on Sept. 29, when citizens can turn in their unwanted and expired medicines in a safe and responsible manner. When the results of the four previous Take-Back Days are combined, the DEA and its partners collected over 1.5 million pounds, or 774 tons, of prescription drugs.

In addition to these efforts, we are taking aggressive action to bring to justice those who think giving thousands of pills to a patient without a legitimate prescription is a great way to make a few extra dollars. Actually, it’s a great way to find a new home in prison.

Just ask Bruce Baker, a former Independence, Mo., physician who was prosecuted for this very offense. Baker was part of a conspiracy that illegally distributed tens of thousands of OxyContin and oxycodone pills worth more than $1 million. Baker will serve more than 13 years in federal prison without parole and co-defendant Kevin Cummings, the leader and organizer of the conspiracy, was sentenced to nearly 10 years in prison.

The expression: “It’s never too late to have the talk” doesn’t apply when it comes to talking to your children about prescription drug abuse. If you are a parent, and you are ready to have ‘the talk’ with your son or daughter, it’s important that you have the best resources available to make this an educational and informative discussion. Go to www.drugfree.org for helpful tools and more information.

Acting U.S. Attorney David M. Ketchmark, Western District of Missouri