In a previous post, we talked about the efforts to prevent prescription drug abuse, being done by Suffolk County in New York. In this post, we share the efforts of the state of Montana, currently ranked as third highest in the country in terms of teen abuse of prescription pain relievers, according to a feature on KRTV.com.
The feature also shared that a new report indicated that 10 percent of the state’s teenagers have abused prescription medication in the past month, and mentioned that Montana is among the remaining seven states that still does not have a prescription drug registry or monitoring program.
Now, the state Attorney General’s office is sharing its efforts towards managing the state’s teen prescription drug abuse problem. After failing to secure the approval of the Montana Legislature for a prescription drug monitoring program twice, the feature said that the bill has been revamped and will be brought forward in the Legislature’s next session.
Siri Similie of the Attorney General’s office shared: “What they see on the street and what they are able to buy from drug dealers are pills. That is the most common drug they see and we also know that we are losing hundreds of Montanans every year to prescription drug overdose, mixed toxicity, and other complications that are side effects of misuse and abuse.”
Montana has also begun to organize prescription drug collection days, where residents are given the opportunity to dispose of prescription drugs in their homes properly. This is yet another way to prevent teenagers from gaining easy access to prescription drugs that may be abused. The next prescription drug collection day is scheduled for September 25.
Tags: montana drug abuse, montana prescription drug abuse, teen prescription drug abuse
