Drug Take Back: 70% Opioids Taken For Non-Medical Reasons Come From Family, Friends
DENVER (CBS4) — Twice each year, the DEA provides a safe and convenient way for people to dispose of their unneeded prescription drugs. The National Drug Take Back Day in April brought in more than 468 tons of unused or expired medication nationwide.
Safe disposal of medication can help prevent drug addiction, overdose and death. Prescription drugs that are abused often come from a familiar medicine cabinet.
"Data shows that about 70% of people who start on an opioid for a non-medical reasons actually get those drugs from a family member or friend," said Suzi Stolte, Communications and Marketing Director for the JP Opioid Interaction Awareness Alliance.
Even the combination of someone's own prescription medications can be fatal. That's what led to the death of Stolte's daughter, Heidi, in 2011.
"She'd been in a car accident, which is what started the prescription for opioids," explained Stolte.
Stolte says Heidi was on painkillers for years after the accident. She worried about the amount Heidi was taking, but in the end, opioids didn't kill her daughter.
It was the addition of another drug, later prescribed to Heidi, that ended her life.
"She was prescribed both an opioid and a benzodiazepine. Both those drugs are central nervous system depressants," explained Stolte, "She took her prescribed benzodiazepines and caused her to stop breathing."
Heidi received the prescriptions from two different doctors. The doctor who prescribed her anxiety medicine wasn't informed that Heidi was taking opioids. Her death came only six months before the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared opioid deaths an epidemic.
"A subset of the opioid deaths that are not getting the same amount of public attention are those interaction deaths," said Stolte. "People aren't aware that mixing opioids with something else they're taking can not only be dangerous, but life threatening. I think it's that mindset that says 'the doctor prescribed them, so they must be safe.'"
Stolte says Drug Take Back Day isn't just to keep prescriptions out of the wrong the hands. For some, it's to keep their own medication out of theirs. She shares Heidi's story to show others the importance of reducing the availability of opioids at home.
National Drug Take Back Day is Saturday, Oct. 26 from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. in Colorado. The DEA will take all expired or unused over-the-counter and prescription medication, along with vaping devices and cartridges. Vaping products with lithium batteries will not be accepted.