Time to unload unwanted medicine
Published 7:00 pm Thursday, January 2, 2020
There could be danger lurking in your medicine cabinet.
Now that a new year has begun, take time out this week to clean your cabinets or bathroom drawers of expired medication.
A survey shows that nearly 10 million Americans misused controlled prescription drugs in 2018 – and most of those drugs were obtained from family and friends, “often from the home medicine cabinet,” according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
Too frequently the unused — and often forgotten — prescription drugs find their way into the wrong hands. That is dangerous and often tragic, resulting in devastation and death.
Scientific studies have pinpointed the problem, showing that between 67 percent and 92 percent of surgical patients reported “leftover” opioids with up to 71 percent of all tablets left unused. Likewise about three-quarters of the patients in the studies said their prescription opioids were not stored in locked containers.
We can prevent this.
The Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office, 5400 E. Broad St., has a permanent drug drop box where unwanted medication can be disposed of year-round.
Residents are encouraged to turn in their controlled substances, prescriptions, over-the-counter medications, medication samples, vitamins, syrups, ointments, creams, lotions and inhalers.
This drop box is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week free of charge.
This program is anonymous and no questions or requests for identification will be made by law enforcement personnel. Individuals should remove any personal information from bottles or packages that contain pills/capsules and liquids before placing the bottles or packages into the drop box.
So check your medicine cabinet, pack up the unused drugs and drop them off at the Sheriff’s Office. You could save a family member or friend from addiction or even death.
This editorial was written by a member of the American Press Editorial Board. Its content reflects the collaborative opinion of the Board, whose members include Crystal Stevenson, John Guidroz, Jim Beam and Mike Jones.
AP Photo/Patrick Sison, File