What you need to know — ASAP
Sponsored by the Aroostook Substance Abuse Prevention Collaborative
LD 821 “An Act to Support Collection and Proper Disposal of Unused Drugs” is being considered by the Maine legislature. The bill requires prescription drug manufacturers to establish a prescription drug collection and disposal program for unwanted prescriptions from residential homes. It also requires that the disposal program is without cost to Maine residents when they purchase prescriptions and when they dispose of them.
Why is prescription disposal an issue? Not properly disposing of unwanted or unused prescriptions is related to a number of problems:
• Unwanted pharmaceuticals showing up in our water and wildlife;
• Easy access to prescriptions for those who intend to abuse them — in 2006 14 percent of teens who abused a prescription said they stole it from a friend or relative (National Survey on Drug Use and Health);
• Unintended poisoning and death as a result of misuse and abuse of these products.
The state of Maine has experienced and documented the consequences of unused prescription medicine remaining in circulation. In 2007, between 86 percent of all drug deaths in Maine were caused by prescription medicine (UMaine – Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center). In addition, Maine Drug Enforcement Agency arrests for prescription medicine misuse or illegal sales have increased dramatically in Aroostook County to 64 percent of all arrests in 2008 (MDEA – Aroostook Division).
Preliminary data from the 2009 Maine Integrated Youth Survey indicates that 5.9 percent of County youth in grades 7-12 abused prescriptions in the past 30 days. At the national level‚ 14 percent adults ages 18-25 used pain relievers for non-medical purposes within the past year (2006-07 National Survey on Drug Use and Health). Substance abuse treatment admissions related to opiate abuse (excluding heroin and morphine) has grown by 64 percent (691 admissions) in Maine since the first half of 2005. Admissions for oxycodone (which includes OxyContin) specifically drives this trend.
In Aroostook County‚ efforts to decrease access to prescriptions for non-medical use includes ASAP’s Diversion Alert Program and annual Prescription Drug Collections coordinated by Healthy Aroostook‚ Power of Prevention‚ Maine Department of Environmental Protection‚ and local police departments.
Our communities and families benefit enormously from the medical advances that led to the development of the wide variety of prescriptions available for use today. Nevertheless‚ we have also been preyed upon by the companies who manufacturer those prescriptions. A complex web of influences‚ including prescription advertising‚ patient demands‚ insurance reimbursements‚ and even prescribing practices have led to a plethora of unused prescriptions lying around in our homes or dumped or flushed into our environment.
This is a significant problem. Take the time to think about the solution.
This article was submitted by members of the Aroostook Substance Abuse Prevention (ASAP) Coalition.
