Manhasset CASA’s Safe Medication Practices for Life Generation Rx Grant Initiative strives to increase awareness about safe medication use and encourage residents to dispose of unnecessary medications kept in the home. According to the 2013 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, nearly 70 percent of those who misuse prescription drugs get them from family members or friends, often from the medicine cabinet.
The new Surgeon General’s report finds alcohol and drug misuse and substance use disorders to be a major public health crisis in our nation. The facts and statistics are overwhelming when it comes to prescription drug and substance abuse: opioid overdose takes a life every 19 minutes and more than 27 million people use illicit drugs or misuse prescription drugs (2016 Surgeon General’s Report).
CASA’s Generation Rx campaign messages for safe use and disposal include:
• Only use prescription medications as directed by a health professional.
• Never share your prescription medications with others or use someone else’s prescription medications.
• Be a good example to those around you by modeling these safe medication-taking practices and discussing the dangers of misusing prescription drugs with your family, friends, colleagues, students, or patients.
• Always store your medications securely to prevent others from taking them, and properly dispose of medications that you no longer need
• Residents can DISPOSE of their unwanted medications at any Nassau County Police Department Precinct or Community Center. The disposal bin is located in the lobby.
Working with Raindew Family Centers and Pharmacy, Maclellan Pharmacy and Manhasset Park Drug as well as other local businesses such as Daniel Gale Realty, Manhasset CASA has made Generation Rx Fact Cards available across the community. The fact card highlights the key safety messages as well as all Nassau County Precinct Disposal Box locations where residents can drop unnecessary medications 24 hours a day. Accepted items include prescriptions, prescription patches, prescription medications, prescription ointments, over-the-counter medications, vitamins, sample medications and medications for pets. Please do not deposit needles, sharps, aerosol cans, thermometers, ointments (liquid or lotion), hydrogen peroxide, inhalers, medication from businesses and bloody or infectious waste.
Manhasset CASA’s Generation Rx program will also advertise in Anton Newspapers and on local shopping center carts to encourage residents to engage in safe medicine practices and disposal in an effort to reduce prescription drug misuse.
Opioid analgesic pain relievers are now the most prescribed class of medications in the United States, with more than 289 million prescriptions written each year. The increase in prescriptions of opioid pain relievers has been accompanied by dramatic increases in misuse and by a more than 200 percent increase in the number of emergency department visits from 2005 to 2011. In 2014 there were 47,055 drug overdose deaths including 28,647 people who died from a drug overdose involving some type of opioid, including prescription pain relievers and heroin. In 2015, 12.5 million persons aged 12 and older reported misusing prescription pain relievers and more than 300,000 reported using heroin in the past year (2016 Surgeon General’s Report).
For more information about Manhasset CASA’s Generation Rx Campaign or programs go to www.manhassetcasa.org.
