One of the leading causes of drug addiction to teens is their easy access to prescription medications. These seemingly harmless medications usually left alone inside a cupboard or in the toilet. However, most of the times, people’s health improved well before their supply was depleted. Then all of a sudden, a household once safe and child-friendly now houses dangerous prescription medications that commonly contains deadly opioids.
An ‘easy target’
What most people don’t realize that a half open painkiller can trigger drug problem in their families – especially teenagers. Studies show that teens have a higher probability of using multiple drugs and other illegal substance for experimentation. Not because they want to get high, but with an easy target along with several factors like peer pressure, curiosity, and stress. Unattended prescription medications particularly painkillers triggers temptations among teenagers. A single experiment with these opioid pharmaceuticals can instantly lead to drug addiction.
Proper disposal
Today, the government and the different groups strongly campaign for adults to properly dispose of their prescription medications. It’s important for every family and household to pay special attention when disposing of their prescription medications. Irresponsible disposal of such drugs can harm not just children but pets as well. Children may mistakenly eat these ‘cute’ pills for candies, and taking medications past its expiration date can cause serious health problems.
Correctly disposing of prescription meds is something everyone has to deal with.
Do you know what to do with prescription medication you don’t need? If an elderly or sick loved one dies, would you know what to do with his or her unused drugs? One way or another, virtually everyone has to deal with the issue of what to do with unneeded prescription drugs, says Heather Free, a practicing pharmacist in the District of Columbia and a spokesperson for the American Pharmacists Association. “Every household should pay attention to this issue,” Free says.
Keeping unneeded prescription drugs in your home could harm you, children and pets.
The primary reason to properly dispose of your unneeded prescription meds is to avoid causing harm – to yourself, to other people and to pets, says Lindsay Slowiczek, a pharmacist and drug information research fellow at the Center for Drug Information and Evidence-Based Practice at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. “When you have expired, unwanted or leftover medications that you no longer need, it is very important to quickly remove them from your home,” Slowiczek says. “Keeping extra medications in your home can put other people or pets at risk. Children, elderly people and pets could accidentally take these medications and experience dangerous side effects or even experience a toxic overdose, due to their smaller size.” More than 90 percent of accidental overdoses of children under age 5 occurred because the kids took medication they found while unsupervised, Slowiczek says. Young kids may mistake prescription medication for candy, and taking medication past its expiration date could cause harmful side effects or negative interactions with other drugs.
Prescription drug consumption is a risk factor for heroin use.
Research suggests that many heroin users started with prescription opioids. Using data from 2002 to 2011, researchers found the rate of using heroin for the first time was 19 times higher among those who reported prior non-medical pain reliever use than among those who didn’t, according to a paper published in the Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality Data Review. A study of young, urban injection drug users who were interviewed in 2008 and 2009 found that 86 percent had used opioids for non-medical reasons before turning to heroin, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Their three primary sources for the opioids were family, friends or personal prescriptions. Not disposing of unused prescription opioids increases the chances they’ll be used inappropriately by someone who shouldn’t take them. “You don’t want to induce harm in others with your prescription meds,” Free says. “If you’re no longer taking prescription drugs, it’s important to dispose of them properly.”
Read more on how to properly dispose of your prescription pills here.