At one point or another, we’ve all used prescription drugs or over-the-counter (OTC) medicines to alleviate an illness — whether it’s to relieve pain or curb a cough.

Unfortunately, too many teens are abusing these drugs for a quick high. In response to our country’s medicine abuse epidemic, the Belleville Area Cares Coalition is promoting National Medicine Abuse Awareness Month.

Nationally, prescription drugs are the second most abused category of drugs after marijuana, with one in five young adults reporting that they have abused a prescription drug.

In addition, the 2011 Monitor...