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"GH readers who encouraged your representatives in Congress to vote for this act, congratulations! Washington heard you: On September 30, the Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act of 2008 won final approval from both houses of Congress. The act \u2014 which will help regulate rogue online pharmacies where many kids purchase pills for illicit use \u2014 should soon be signed into law by President Bush.  Although drug use among American high schoolers has dropped overall, over the past decade the rate of prescription drug use has steadily risen. Nearly one in five teenagers \u2014 that&amp;#039;s 4.5 million \u2014 admit to abusing medications not prescribed to them, reports a 2005 study conducted by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. One reason for the increase is that prescription drugs have been easily available to kids surfing the Internet. Case in point: In February 2001, Ryan Haight, an A student and star tennis player from Laguna Beach, CA, died of an accidental overdose of Vicodin, Valium, and a trace of morphine. A doctor prescribed these drugs over the Internet, and a pharmacist filled them online. The 18-year-old had never met either one face-to-face. &amp;quot;He figured [the drugs] couldn&amp;#039;t be dangerous,&amp;quot; says Ryan&amp;#039;s mother, Francine Haight, an R.N., who founded the drug-awareness organization Ryan&amp;#039;s Cause: Reaching Youths Abusing Narcotics. &amp;quot;He figured the doctor wouldn&amp;#039;t prescribe them for you, and the pharmacist wouldn&amp;#039;t give them to you, if they could kill you, right?&amp;quot; The Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act of 2008 prohibits U.S. online pharmacies from supplying controlled substances to anyone without a valid prescription from a doctor he&amp;#039;s met with at least once. Thanks to those of our readers who helped get this bill passed \u2014 and to those of you who are reading this after the bill&amp;#039;s passage, be assured that you, too, can make a difference by spreading awareness of the problem of prescription drug abuse in your communities. For more information about teens and prescription drug dangers, see RX for Disaster in the October 2008 issue of Good Housekeeping. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/parenting/tips/a17726/ryan-haight-bill/>