Prescription drug abuse is on the rise across America – and in our community. You may be asking, where do these kids get these drugs?

The answer may be in your medicine cabinet. A lot of prescription drugs that are being sold and taken illegally are obtained from our homes. Parents and grandparents who have expired prescriptions are a common target.

So what’s a parent to do? You can be the first line of defense by simply taking proper care of your prescriptions.

• Lock up your prescriptions, or at least hide them very well.

• Keep a count of the pills you have consumed on current prescriptions.

• Take unused, unneeded, or expired prescriptions and dispose of them by crushing them up and mixing them with an undesirable substance, such as coffee grounds or kitty litter and throwing them in the trash; only flushing prescriptions that are specifically labeled for such disposal—flushing prescriptions can tarnish the water supply.

• Share this information with your friends, family and co-workers.

And always remember, anyone who visits your home likely has access to your bathroom. Even if you don’t think your child (or grandchild) would use or sell drugs, you never know if their friends, your nephew, or your neighbor’s daughter will.

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