LOCK YOUR MEDS

Quite frequently youngsters merely open the medicine cabinet and there before them is a variety of drugs available for the taking: pain pills for post gum surgery; sleeping pills from an overseas airplane trip; cough medicine from last season’s flu. The time to act is now. You are the key to your child’s drug-free future.

Take the following preventative steps:

  • Remove drugs from your medicine cabinet and hide them, lock them up or take them out of your house.
  • Safeguard all medicines that have to remain at home by monitoring quantities and controlling access.
  • Take inventory by writing down the names and amounts of medications you currently have and regularly check to see if anything is missing.
  • If your child is on prescribed medication, monitor the dosages and refills. Set clear rules, such as, not sharing and always following proper dosages.
  • Warn your youngsters that taking prescription or OTC drugs without a doctor’s supervision can be just as dangerous and potentially lethal as taking street drugs.
  • Supervise your child’s Internet use: many pharmacy sites are not regulated and will sell your child medications without prescriptions.
  • Properly dispose of old, expired or unused medicines in the trash. Hide or mix them with cat litter or coffee grounds before throwing them away in an empty can or bag. DO NOT flush medications down the drain or toilet, unless the label indicates it is safe to do so.

Proper disposal of Prescription Drugs

Federal Guidelines:

Do not flush prescription drugs down the toilet or drain unless the label or accompanying patient information specifically instructs you to do so. For information on drugs that should be flushed visit the FDA’s website.

To dispose of prescription drugs not labeled to be flushed, you may be able to take advantage of community drug take‐back programs or other programs, such as household hazardous waste collection events, that collect drugs at a central location for proper disposal. Call your city or county government’s household trash and recycling service and ask if a drug take‐back program is available in your community.

If a drug take‐back or collection program is not available:

  • Take your prescription drugs out of their original containers.
  • Mix drugs with an undesirable substance, such as cat litter or used coffee grounds.
  • Put the mixture into a disposable container with a lid, such as an empty margarine tub, or into a sealable bag.
  • Conceal or remove any personal information, including Rx number, on the empty containers by covering it with black permanent marker or duct tape, or by scratching it off.
  • Place the sealed container with the mixture, and the empty drug containers, in the trash.

Drop Box Locations:

  • Lobby of Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office (339 New Leicester Highway, Leicester)
  • Lobby of Buncombe County Courthouse (60 Court Plaza, Downtown Asheville)
  • Lobby of Asheville Police Department (100 Court Plaza, Downtown Asheville)

Additional information for Lock Your Meds – https://www.lockyourmeds.org/nc