LaVERGNE, Tenn. -- It's a growing trend among teenagers: getting high on prescription drugs found in their homes' medicine cabinets. But several homes throughout Rutherford County have been the target of thieves, and, in many cases, the only things taken were prescription drugs.

Video: Police Say Teens Stealing Prescription Meds

"People need their medication," said Jim Lilienthal, who has a herniated disk in his back, bad knees and arthritis in his right foot.

A week before he was to have surgery on his foot, his shipment of pain medication was delivered to his Murfreesboro home. He left home that day, and when he returned home, the lockbox he kept the medicine in was busted open.

"I hadn't even taken any of it, and when I come back, it's all gone, every bit of it," Lilienthal said.

He isn't alone. Authorities in Rutherford County have investigated several break-ins where the only thing that was taken was prescription drugs. In some of those cases, police said, teenagers were to blame.

Authorities in LaVergne said teenagers using prescription drugs illegally are on the rise there as well.

"If they break into houses, it's easy to get a hold of," said LaVergne police Chief Ted Boyd.

Most of the time, teens just target the medicine cabinets of their parents and grandparents.

"With youth, it's (about) accessibility," said Richard Warson of anti-drug group Cadcor.

As for Lilienthal, he's now taking extra precaution to protect his meds but still feels like a part of him taken when his stolen prescription drugs were stolen.

"It's just like being robbed of anything else," he said.

Police said it will also help if people clean out old and unused prescriptions in their medicine cabinets.

Cadcor teams with local agencies and hold drug take back event. This is where you can bring those unwanted prescriptions and safely dispose of them.