Improved
6112 HealthChanged
3786 LivesSaved
3568 Lives0 lives impacted in the last 24 hrs Learn More
Dr. Pohl explains how parents can prevent their children from abusing prescription drugs.
Dr. Pohl:
Since the best number one source of pain medications and other prescription drug is parents’ medicine cabinet and friends’ parents’ medicine cabinet, the message, the main message is, if you have a prescription, secure it, either in a lock box or in a place where kids don’t have access.
After you are done with your prescription, and most of us don’t take all of our medications, that’s, we’ve got a lot of studies that confirm that. Let’s say you go to the dentist. The dentist gives you 30 Lortabs because you have a sore tooth. You take three and then ibuprofen’s working; those 27 pills should be disposed of.
Some states, you can actually bring them to the pharmacy and they will dispose of them. Probably flushing them down the toilet, not so good because then we’ll all be getting a dose of your medication. Mixing them in coffee grounds may be one way to deactivate them and then put them in the garbage, but leaving those pills around is really asking for trouble.
The office of National Drug Control Policy, ONDCP, has a program with a partnership with Drug-Free America and they have a number of tips on their website, ondcp.gov, that you can really apply some intervention so that your kids aren’t ending up with your medication and dangerous side effects.
About Dr. Mel Pohl, M.D.:
Dr. Mel Pohl, M.D., is a Board Certified Family Practitioner. He is the Vice President of Medical Affairs and the Medical Director at the Las Vegas Recovery Center (LVRC), the only private, freestanding, medically managed inpatient detoxification and addiction treatment facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Visit Dr. Pohl at the Las Vegas Recovery Center