Local health officials are hoping your spring cleaning included your medicine cabinet this year.
A ‘Clean Out The Medicine Cupboard’ campaign is being spearheaded by FOCUS, a Grey Bruce group that works on prevention and harm reduction around substance abuse issues.
Coordinator and Public Health Nurse Marie Barclay tells Bayshore Broadcasting news a recent Ontario Student Drug Use and Health survey showed 21 per cent of teens used prescription pain relievers for non-medicinal purposes in the past year.
Barclay says 72 per cent of those teens then said they got the medication from the cabinet at home.
Barclay says in response, FOCUS is raising awareness about the potential for abuse by promoting the idea that families review the medications in their households.
Robin McQuire, a pharmacist at Shoppers Drug Mart in Owen Sound, says any unused or expired medications can be returned to pharmacies for safe disposal.
She says you just need to put drop them off in a paper bag and the pharmacy will then have the medication incinerated.
Barclay says it’s important not to throw old pills or cough syrup in the garbage or down the drain or toilet, because traces are showing up in our water.
Barclay says after you clean out your medicine cabinet, you should also talk to your kids about the dangers of abusing prescription and over the counter drugs.
McQuire says while kids may know they can get high off some of the things in the medicine cabinet, they may not know the many dangers associated with doing so.
McQuire says taking drugs that weren’t prescribed for you or using pills for non-medicinal purposes can cause shortness of breath, heart beat irregularities, and even death.