Unused drugs pose dangers
Proper education about the use and disposal of medications is important in a state where prescription drug overdose deaths outnumber traffic fatalities annually, according to USU prevention specialist Ryan Barfuss.
Last year, USU Police collected more than 219 pounds of unused prescription drugs, said Barfuss, who is employed at USU’s Wellness Center.
In the past year, a Hyrum drug drop-off box collected 38 pounds of prescription drugs, the Cache County Sheriff’s Office collected 73 pounds, and Logan collected 279 pounds, Barfuss said.
“That’s a lot of prescription drugs, but it’s only scratching the surface of what’s out there,” Barfuss said. “We live in an area where people don’t like to waste things. They spend a lot of money on these prescription drugs. They save them for a rainy day – but a lot people don’t realize that these drugs expire. They lose their potency, they expire or just deteriorate, just like food.”
The USU Police Department, located in the Public Safety Building, has one of Cache Valley’s six drop boxes used for the disposal of prescription drugs.
“It’s a secure drop-off box that people can just put the drugs in the box, and then the police will take them and incinerate them so that they don’t get into the water,” Barfuss said.
Cathy Lloyd, substance abuse prevention coordinator at Bear River Health Department, said there are six drop boxes located in Cache Valley – Hyde Park, North Logan City Office, Logan City Office, Cache County Sheriff’s Office, USU Police Office, Logan Police Office and Hyrum City offices.
Lloyd said if a person decides he or she would prefer to dispose of prescription drugs at home rather than using the disposal boxes, she advises not to flush them down the toilet.
“We suggest crushing it up and putting it with something undesirable, like moldy food or a dirty diaper,” Lloyd said. “But the number one way for disposal is to use our disposal boxes that are located in our community.”
As part of a substance abuse awareness week, Barfuss and Student Health Services created a display board that was placed near the TSC Ballroom to inform students about prescription drugs and the drop boxes.
“On the board, we have some facts and myths,” Barfuss said. “We have stories about people who have overdosed and died from prescription drugs. People get hooked on pain killers very easily. We talk about mixing drugs with alcohol, overusing and abusing. We just want to make people aware that it’s not good and it’s not safe.”
Barfuss said USU is part of a coalition that raises awareness about substance abuse. Another member of the coalition is the Northern Utah Substance Abuse Prevention Team, which is organized through Bear River Health Department.
“USU has been a member of our coalition since the beginning – so like 10 years,” Lloyd said. “The coalition works with the ‘Use Only As Directed’ campaign.”
According to Lloyd, NUSAPT has two goals: educate people about proper disposal and educate people about the harm of prescription sharing.
“When the doctor gave that person a prescription, they gave it to them with the intent that they would use it and not give it to someone else. It’s based on body weight, their size, gender – all the specific things to a person,” Lloyd said. “It may not be safe for another person to take it.”
Sharing prescriptions is against the law as well as unsafe, Lloyd said.
“It’s also a controlled substance, which means it’s illegal,” he said. “It’s a harm issue, a safety issue, and it’s illegal.”
According to the “Utah Pharmaceutical Drug Abuse Brief,” a compilation of state and national data prepared by several state agencies, more Utah residents died from prescription drug overdose since 2006 than from car crashes each year – and in 2010, “prescription drugs were involved in 81 percent of all overdose deaths in Utah.”
“According to the 2009-2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 55 percent of people who have used prescription drugs non-medically got them from a friend or relative for free,” the brief states.
For more information about safe disposal of prescription drugs or facts about prescription drugs, visit www.useonlyasdirected.org.
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