This is a legitimate question. Flushing medications down the toilet contaminates our drinking water supply and harms marine wildlife. Leaving them in your medicine cabinet increases the likelihood of taking the wrong medication, or worse, gives teens the opportunity to steal the prescription drugs and sell them for recreational use at school, which is a growing problem. Now the DEA has launched a campaign to dispose of the medications properly. I hope there is a good response.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 15, 2010
Contact: DEA Public Affairs
Number: 202-307-7977

Over 3,400 sites join DEA Nationwide Effort
to Take-Back Prescription Drugs On Sept . 25

SEP 15 — WASHINGTON, D.C. – Less than a month into the Drug Enforcement Administration’s prescription drug “Take-Back” campaign, over 3,400 sites nationwide have joined the effort that seeks to prevent increased pill abuse and theft. Government, community, public health and law enforcement partners will be collecting potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs for destruction at these sites all across the nation on Saturday, September 25 th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. local time. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Many Americans are not aware that medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are increasing at alarming rates, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. In addition, many Americans do not know how to properly dispose of their unused medicine, often flushing them down the toilet or throwing them away – both potential safety and health hazards.

“The National Prescription Drug Take-Back campaign will provide a safe way for Americans to dispose of their unwanted prescription drugs,” said Michele M. Leonhart, Acting Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration. “This effort symbolizes DEA’s commitment to halting the disturbing rise in addiction caused by their misuse and abuse. Working together with our state and local partners, the medical community, anti-drug coalitions, and a concerned public, we will eliminate a major source of abused prescription drugs, and reduce the hazard they pose to our families and communities in a safe, legal, and environmentally sound way.”

“With this National Prescription Drug Take-Back campaign, we are aggressively reaching out to individuals to encourage them to rid their households of unused prescription drugs that pose a safety hazard and can contribute to prescription drug abuse,” said Acting Deputy Attorney General Gary G. Grindler.  “The Department of Justice is committed to doing everything we can to make our communities safer, and this initiative represents a new front in our efforts.”

“Prescription drug abuse is the Nation’s fastest-growing drug problem, and take-back events like this one are an indispensable tool for reducing the threat that the diversion and abuse of these drugs pose to public health,” said Director of National Drug Control Policy Gil Kerlikowske. “The Federal/state/and local collaboration represented in this initiative is key in our national efforts to reduce pharmaceutical drug diversion and abuse.”

Other participants in this initiative include the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy; the Partnership for a Drug-Free America; the International Association of Chiefs of Police; the National Association of Attorneys General; the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy; the Federation of State Medical Boards; and the National District Attorneys Association.

It is well known that even over-the-counter (OTC) pain killers are associated with potential  side effects, including ulcers and stomach bleeding. Growing research now reveals additional side effects, suggesting that high doses of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and COX-2 inhibitors can increase the risk of heart attack. Of particular danger in the study are ibuprofen and diclofenac. People taking taking these medications for pain are encouraged to take the smallest effective dose, and to take it for the shortest length of time. The study was published in the British Medical Journal (Reuters, June 1, 2006). Furthermore,  NSAIDs also slow the healing time of soft tissue. Keep this in mind before you accept the medications your co-worker offers when you say you’re in pain.

If you are tired of merely managing pain by temporarily masking it with drugs, and want a drug-free, non-invasive option which will get to the root of the problem, call ProActive Chiropractic at 415-762-8141.

(FCER)