University Police are urging students to turn in their old prescription and over-the-counter drugs during a national "take back" initiative. Let's take them up on it.
What are we going to do with our expired medical drugs anyway — sell them, throw them down the sink or save them for another day? None of these options are safe.
If we sell them to a friend, it's probably not for a true medical reason. If they really needed the drugs, they'd get their own prescription.
If we dump them down the drain or toilet, we're only adding to the rising toxicity of the drinking water we take for granted every day. Saving them for another day — when you might expect another major headache or a fresh burst of muscle pain — could actually lead to worse side effects than the original pain, according to an article published in Medscape Psychopharmacology Today.
The National Institute of Health estimates almost 20 percent of people in the United States have used prescription drugs for non-medical reasons. People who use them for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder are often approached to sell or trade their , two drugs commonly used to treat symptoms of ADHD.
Why not simply drop off your half-empty pill bottles at the University Police Department? They're stepping up because there is no other drop-off site in Delaware County, so why don't we take them up on it? It's anonymous anyway.
There are 3,400 drop-off sites across the country for Saturday's inaugural Take Back. The Drug Enforcement Administration is definitely trying to make an impact.
All we really ask is you play it safe. We've already seen what happened when a student mixed alcohol with prescription methadone, a synthetic narcotic used as a substitute for heroin. Jarrod Polston, 19, a student of Indiana University, died in a dorm room while visiting friends at Ball State. These influences appear to have contributed to his death.
Be smart. Be safe. Don't become another heartbreaking incident of loss.
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