It’s only a few days away, and no it isn’t a big concert or that first summer movie you’re dying to see it’s National Prescription Drug Drop-Off day, and it’s Canada wide. While this may not seem important to many Canadians, it offers those with unused prescribed medicine to be disposed of. According to statistics, nearly one third of every prescription for antibi
otics is never used and improperly stored, while nearly sixty percent of pain killers are never used. One of the main reasons Canadians do not get rid of their medicine is because they are confident that somewhere down the line they or an immediate family member may need them, which could save a trip to the emergency room late at night. When it comes to pain killers a lot of folks who experience pain from time to time want to make sure that they can pop a pill as needed and deal with their pain their own way instead of scheduling a doctor’s appointment or again, heading to the emergency room at some ungodly hour of the night because their back hurts.
Last year when the drop-off program was founded, nearly two tonnes of medication was dropped off and disposed of, but doctors and other health officials believe that this was in fact a tiny percentage compared to what many people still have in their medicine cabinets. There is a risk though that pertains especially to parents and family members who do not dispose of antibiotics and other pills. According to Dr. Brian Goldman, there have been plenty of cases of people thinking that because an antibiotic is similar to another antibiotic, that it isn’t a problem to give them to a sick child or family member. In some cases he described people who had taken antibiotics that were not prescribed to them ended up with a nasty rash caused by an allergic reaction.
We all know that prescription pain killers are a popular way to get high, and this drop-off program may offer help to parents for a safe way to make sure their kids aren’t raiding the medicine cabinet to get high off pain killers, sedatives and other things that go down well at parties or a private “get high” session with a few friends. Prescription narcotics can easily lead to overdose due to the fact that they weren’t prescribed to a child or teenager, and are highly addictive which may lead to serious dependance and all the problems that follow. Another important danger that this drop-off program might prevent is the accidental consumption and possible overdose by toddlers who mistake the pills for candy or something safe to put in their mouths.
The drop-off day is only one day per year as of yet, but it may offer the best possible way to safely dispose of your left-over meds that you don’t want hurting someone or yourself. There have been other ways of getting rid of the medications like grounding them up in coffee grounds, mixing them with kitty litter or even flushing them down the toilet (which some argue could lead to trace amounts being injected into the water supply) but to be on the safe side it might be wise to take the day to do some spring cleaning of your medicine cabinet. Police departments across Canada will be participating in the event.