The fight against prescription drug abuse is one battle that parents are most concerned about since many of the victims are adolescents. Reports showed that in 2009, there were 7 million children, 12 years and older, who abused prescribed medications for non-medical purposes. It was also known that on the average, there are 2,500 teens every day that get high using prescription medications for the first time. Did you also know that two teens in every five see prescription medications as much safer than illegal drugs and that three out of ten believe painkillers are not addictive at all?

This is why the Tri-State has initiated the Drug Take Back activity. It will be held in the following venues from 10 am to 2 pm on the 30th of April:

1. Huntington: Huntington Police Department at Ebenezer Medical Outreach, 1448 10th Ave.
2. Huntington: West Virginia State Police at West Virginia State Police Detachment, 3339 U.S. 60.
3. Kenova: Kenova Department of Public Safety at Kenova Volunteer Fire Department, 1600 Pine St.
4. Barboursville: Barboursville Police Department at Barboursville Police Department/Municipal Building, 721 Central Ave.
5. South Point: Lawrence County Ohio Drug Task Force at Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce, 216 Collins Ave., South Point.
6. Ironton: Ironton Hills parking lot.
7. Coal Grove: Village Hall parking lot on Carlton-Davidson Lane.
8. Burlington: Wal-Mart parking lot.
9. Lawrence County: Fairground entrance at Ohio 7 and Ohio 243.
10. Ashland: Kentucky State Police at Kentucky State Police Detachment, 5975 U.S. 60.

This meteoric rise of prescription drug abuse is due to several reasons. The fact that these drugs – usually painkillers such as OxyContin, Vicodin, and Fentanyl – are basically legal substances that are prescribed by doctors for legitimate reasons, people think that it is safer, regardless of whether it is used properly or abused.

Sally Thoren, executive director of Gateway Foundation, an organization that provides substance abuse treatment, said: “People think, ‘It comes from the doctor. Mom took it for a toothache or a broken bone. How bad can it be?’”

Another reason for the surge is the fact that there was also an increase in doctor prescriptions for painkillers, a trend that began in the 1990s. According to Kathleen Kane-Willis, director of Roosevelt University’s Illinois Consortium on Drug Policy, the greater availability of prescription painkillers became the catalyst for more widespread abuse: “In the 80s and early 90s, there was so little pain medicine prescribed… Now, the pendulum has kind of swung the other way.”

She suggested that while there is no need to deny pain medication to people who need them, it is important for doctors to have frank conversations with their patients regarding the dangers of prescription drug abuse.

The main goal of the effort is to prevent abuse of prescription drugs by removing them from homes, and it was conducted last September 25. National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day gave Americans an opportunity to legally and safely get rid of unwanted prescription drugs, and it could be done anonymously and for free.

Michele M. Leonhart, Acting Administrator for the DEA, shared the following statement from the agency: “The Take-Back Campaign was a stunning nationwide success that cleaned out more than 121 tons of pills from America’s medicine cabinets, a crucial step toward reducing the epidemic of prescription drug abuse that is plaguing this nation.”

David Ausiello, a spokesman for the DEA, shared that over 4,000 collection sites catered to anyone who had excess prescription drugs across the country. Aside from drugs, people also brought items that they received along with their prescription, such as needles.

There are many people who have unwanted prescription drugs in their homes, and they do not know what to do with them or how to dispose of them properly. Some resort to flushing them down the toilet, a practice that can have an impact on a community’s water supply. Some even simply throw medicines out.

There is legislation that has been passed by the House and the Senate that will allow state and private entities to set up responsible drug take-back programs; for now, though, only law enforcement is legally allowed to receive unused prescriptions.

A feature on the Houston Chronicle shared the following statement from Ray Andrews, the director of Houston Crackdown, the anti-drug division of the mayor’s office for public safety and homeland security: “The medicine cabinet has become the new drug dealer… To the extent we can warn people about drugs and help people dispose of their unused and expired drugs in a legal manner, we are literally saving lives.”

The primary goal of the effort is to reduce prescription drug abuse, but there is another issue that the effort was able to address: environmental concerns that may arise out of improper disposal of prescription drugs, which can potentially contaminate a community’s water supply.

Despite the repeated announcements that the drop-offs will be anonymous – no questions asked – there are still people who were bashful as they dropped off their medicines. And despite the significant amount of medicines that were gathered, there were collection sites that did not have that much traffic.

Anthony Scott, an assistant special agent in charge in the Houston office of the DEA, said: “Nobody’s going to get locked up behind this. We’re not going to peel off a label and look at someone’s name and that’s what they were afraid of… We’re hoping that the word gets out from this go-round that nothing bad came out of it and nobody got arrested, and I think next time we do it we’ll be more successful than we were today.”

On September 25, 2010, this type of effort will be done on a national scale, as shared in a press release from the Department of Justice, given last August 19. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is joining forces with government, public health and law enforcement partners in the fight against prescription drug abuse through the prescription drug take-back initiative.

The other participants in this initiative are: 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.

From 10:00 AM until 2:00 PM local time on September 25, the DEA will collect expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs. There will be sites set-up nationwide that will offer the service for free, and the drugs that will be collected through the initiative will be properly destroyed.

Acting Deputy Attorney General Gary G. Grindler said: “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. 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.”

Those who are interested in taking advantage of this initiative can go to the DEA website to check out collection sites that have been set up in local communities.

Lynn Kissick lost her 22-year-old daughter Savannah to an overdose of painkillers and sedatives, while Karen Shay lost her 19-year-old daughter Sarah to a methadone overdose.

Kissick and Shay are reaching out to teens via the presentation of their stories in a video that is making the rounds of high schools in the state. The video is part of a public awareness campaign, through the joint efforts of the Kentucky attorney general’s office, Kentucky Justice Cabinet, Kentucky Pharmacists Association, National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators and Operation UNITE. The first showing was held at the Western Hills High School in Frankfort last Thursday.

Kissick shared: “It can happen, and it does happen, and it will happen… One time, and it can kill you.” Shay, on the other hand, urged teens to ensure that their families do not go through the pain that prescription drug abuse may bring: “Children are supposed to live longer than their parents, so when you go before us, it leaves a huge, huge hole.”

Van Ingram, executive director for the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy, shared that studies from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that 20 percent of teens in the state have admitted to using prescription pills for recreational purposes. He shared further that 530 people died due to prescription drug overdose last year.

The North Carolina sheriff’s association asked on Tuesday that they be given access to state computer records that contains information on patients who have prescriptions for controlled substances, including powerful painkillers. The database is currently being used mainly by doctors and pharmacists, in an effort to catch patients who may be doctor-shopping for prescription drugs, and in order to prevent pharmacists from filling too many prescriptions for any single patient.

According to the state Department of Health and Human Services, around 30 percent of North Carolina residents received at least one prescription for such controlled substances as Ambien and Oxycontin in the first half of 2010. Almost 2.5 million patients filled prescriptions that reached 375 million doses in the same time frame. The database that the sheriff’s association is trying to gain access to contains 53.5 million prescriptions.

The request for access was made by the state sheriffs before the legislative health care committee in an effort to find more ways to curb prescription drug abuse. Lee County Sheriff Tracy L. Carter said that making the database available to them will enable them to “better go after those who are abusing the system.”

There are patient advocates, however, who are not sold on the idea, mainly due to privacy concerns. A compromise was presented by William Bronson of the drug control unit of the DHHS, who suggested that information may be requested for by drug investigators for ongoing investigations; they will not, however, be allowed to access the database by themselves.

The committee voted 25 to 10 against the plan. This advisory panel included doctors and pain experts, and one of the reasons for the rejection was that the panel felt that the plan lacked a stipulation requiring doctors to undergo training on the appropriate use of prescription narcotics. This rendered the plan as weak in terms of controlling the use of such drugs.

Drugs such as OxyContin, fentanyl and methadone are considered as important in pain management; however, these are the same drugs involved prescription drug abuse, and have also been linked to deaths due to overdose. It is for this reason that the FDA, as well as the drug industry, worked together to draw up a plan to reduce the misuse and abuse of these medications.

Dr. John K. Jenkins, director of the office of new drugs at the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research at the FDA, shared that the concern of the advisory panel lay in the “voluntary nature of the training requirements” for doctors.

It was said that the FDA had initially planned on stipulating mandatory training for those who intend to prescribe the drugs. The agency, however, was concerned about the fact that they only had the authority to require drug manufacturers to provide training. Another concern for the agency was that some doctors may choose to simply stop prescribing the drugs if they find mandatory trainings too tedious, thereby limiting the options of patients who may need them.

Creating mixes, though, should not be extended to the intake of prescription drugs. You may have noticed that your doctor asks you about other medications you may be currently taking before he prescribes you a certain medicine. Mixing prescription drugs, unlike mixing alcohol, is very dangerous and can be fatal.

When taken separately, the drugs work to your advantage, relieving you of any pain or symptom that you may be suffering from. When taken together or within a short period of time, the drugs may intensify or counteract the action of the other, or the combination may bring a different set of effects. Thousands of deaths related to the accidental overdose or mixing of prescription drugs are reported every year, and many are still at risk.

To avoid prescription drug mixing, create your own medication list that covers all drugs you take in, including prescription drugs, over-the-counter drugs, herbal medicines, vitamins, and dietary supplements. Always inform your doctor about the medications you are having so he can prescribe the right medicine. Update the list regularly and make sure you separate the old drugs from the new ones. Do not take old medications when you feel old symptoms coming back without telling your doctor first.

Stimulants

These drugs are prescribed for patients who suffer from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), asthma, obesity and narcolepsy. The drugs function to counteract feelings of weakness usually caused by fatigue, stress or alcohol. These drugs enhance concentration, alertness and energy and are often mixed with alcohol, which makes it even more dangerous. Teens usually abuse these drugs during activities that may need an extra push, like long examinations or competitive games. Examples of stimulants are Ritalin, Dexedrine and Concerta.

Painkillers

Painkillers can be either opium or morphine (narcotic) derivatives. These are prescribed to those suffering from chronic pain. Marijuana is also known to be prescribed to those who are dealing with cancer, which is medically proven to help administer pain. Vicodin is one of those painkiller drugs which are very potent and addictive. Among the listed drugs that are addictive are: Codeine, Hydrocodone, Oxycodone, Opium, Morphine and Fentanyl.

Depressants

These drugs are usually prescribed to patients who suffer from tension, sleep disorders and panic attacks. Depending on the dose, depressants act as a form of anaesthetic. These are usually called sedatives or tranquilizers, whose primary function is to slow down brain activity. Common prescribed depressants are Valium, Klonopin, Soma, Xanax and Ambien.

Unfortunately, while you should need a medical prescription to obtain these drugs, teens can easily access them online without presenting anything from the doctor. There are also people actually peddling prescription drugs in some universities.