Preventing prescription misuse, abuse

One person dies every 19 minutes, unintentionally, from prescription drug abuse. Another staggering statistic: one in five teens has abused prescription medications.

Generation Rx, a group stemming from the American Public Health Association, is an initiative that has been put together to prevent the misuse and abuse of prescription medications. Generation Rx and Washington State University's School of Pharmacy have teamed up to do something about this growth epidemic.

There will be a presentation about prescription medication abuse on December 19 to target the group that is at the heart of the issue, high school students. The goal is to decrease prescription drug abuse by bringing awareness to the issue.

A great way for people in the community to help with this initiative is to dispose of their unused medications. With the support of the Odessa Police Department, Odessa Drug and the National Community Pharmacy Association, there will be a chance to do so!

January 3, from 8:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m., community members will have the opportunity to decrease these statistics. The Odessa Police Department will have a station set up to take back unused medications and have them incinerated. Incineration is the most safe and environmentally friendly way to dispose of prescription medications. Although it is popular to flush medications down the toilet or throw them away, this contaminates the soil and water.

This initiative provides a great opportunity to get rid of unneeded and unused medications.*

*Note: Please bring your medications in the original prescription vials.

Information sources consulted were:

Generation Rx, Preventing the Misuse and Abuse of Prescription Medication. (2011, July). Retrieved December 7, 2011, from Cardinal Health: http://www.cardinal.com/us/en/MedicationSafety/

Prescription Pain Killer Overdose in the U.S. (2011, November). Retrieved December 7, 2011, from Center For Disease Control: http://www.cdc.gov/VitalSigns/pdf/2011-11-vitalsigns.pdf

The Generation Rx Initiative. (n.d.). Retrieved December 7, 2011, from Ohio State University College of Pharmacy: http://pharmacy.osu.edu/outreach/generation-rx/