“The National Prescription Drug Take Back Day addresses a crucial public safety and public health issue. According to the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 9.9 million Americans misused controlled prescription drugs. The study shows that a majority of abused prescription drugs were obtained from family and friends, often from the home medicine cabinet. The use of prescription pills for non-medical reasons has reached epidemic proportions and threatens the lives of millions of Americans. Prescription pills are killing more of our youth than cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and inhalants combined. Every day, 2,500 teens use prescription drugs for non-medical use for the first time. Teens abuse prescription drugs more than any illicit street drug except marijuana. 70% of people who abuse prescription drugs say they get them out of the medicine cabinets of their grandparents and parents.”
This quote is from the press release from the Department of Justice and National Drug Enforcement sent to let people know about where they could take unwanted drugs last Saturday. In its eighteenth year, this happens in the spring and fall of every year.
This announcement was highlighted in newspapers and news programs from Tahlequah, Oklahoma to Levittown, New York to Huntington, West Virginia. The events are usually well attended.
But what about the medicines that are still in use?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 40% of all U.S. opioid overdose deaths in 2016 involved prescription opioids. Each day, more than 1,000 people are treated in emergency departments for not using prescription opioids as directed. Seventy-seven percent of opioid prescription medications taken by new users are obtained from a friend or relative.
Sixty-two percent of teens who admit taking medication for non-medical reasons say they get drugs from medicine cabinets in their homes.
Lexi, in my book Downward Spiral, was taking pills from her dad’s supply initially. She went on to find other sources, but many young people start the same way. Sometimes they are taking too many or are even snorting their prescription drugs to obtain a faster high.
Parents and grandparents count your pills. Count your child’s pills. This action sounds as if you can’t trust your son or daughter, but it is a way of keeping them safe. Look at it as a way to have a peace of mind. As our statistics show us, we need to be more alert to keep our kids safe.
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