Substance abuse can be a difficult issue to treat especially if the drug is readily available to the abuser. In rural areas specifically, prescription drug abuse is more common than illicit drug abuse. Some people are taking prescription drugs that are not their prescription and others are abusing their own prescription whether intentional or not. One of the ways to try and reduce prescription drug abuse is to minimize the number of old prescriptions in people's medicine cabinets.
I came across an article about September 29th being "Take-Back Day" in Wayne County. On this day there are going to be numerous stations set up across the county for people to bring their old prescriptions, anonymously and without questions, and have them properly disposed of. I think this is a great idea and I was happy to see that it is being sponsored by Wayne County Narcotic Enforcement Team as well as the DEA. This shows that they recognize the increasing abuse of prescription drugs in rural areas. These types of programs allow us as providers to present patients with a means of disposing of their old medications and the opportunity to counsel them on why that is so important to do so, for example preventing them from accidentally taking them, so that they are not available to be stolen from their homes and abused by others and to keep the water supply safe from improper disposal.
http://www.waynepost.com/latestnews/x1238768628/Prescription-drug-Take-Back-Day-held-this-weekend
Liz,
ReplyDeleteGreat post. I think it is great that they have this day for people to bring old prescriptions for proper disposal. It seems as though this would greatly benefit the older population who may have a lot of older prescriptions lying around. I do not see any benefit to having old prescriptions around the house, it just seems as though it presents a potentially dangerous situation, to both the person prescribed the medication or anyone else who may have access to the drug.
This is a wonderful opportunity that Wayne County is providing for their community. I think that a really good addition to this program would be to have people making visits to community members' homes as well. Some of the population, such as the elderly, might not have the means to travel to the collection site to dispose of their old prescriptions. Perhaps, there could have been a way to allow people to sign up for this service, rather than people just aimlessly going door to door. For instance, included in the advertising for this event there could have been a number for people to call to request that someone comes to their home to collect the old prescription drugs.
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