Safe medicine storage and disposal reminders

Safe medicine storage and disposal reminders

Friday, November 2, 2018

It’s important to properly dispose of any unused, unwanted or expired prescription drugs in order to help keep our families safe and healthy.

Opioid abuse continues to be a widespread issue, negatively impacting people of all ages across the United States. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s 2016 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 6.2 million Americans misused controlled prescription drugs in the previous month, and in 2016 alone, 488 opioid pain reliever-related deaths were reported in the Hoosier state.

Many who misuse prescription drugs get them from family and friends, often from the easy to access medicine cabinet. To help address this issue, Indiana State Police (ISP) recently partnered with the Drug Enforcement Administration for the 16th National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day. This event aimed at preventing prescription drug abuse by setting up drug disposal sites across the state. During the event, ISP collected over 2,000 pounds of unused or expired medication.

Click here to view a district breakdown of the event’s result.

In addition, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 60,000 children visit an emergency room each year due to ingesting medicine while an adult was not looking.

  • To help keep children safe, the CDC offers the following recommendations:
  • Store medicines out of children’s reach and sight;
  • Put medicines away after use;
  • Ensure the safety caps on containers are locked; and
  • Teach children about medicine safety.

For additional safety tips on safe medicine storage, click here.

To learn more about what to do with unwanted or expired medicine, click here.