By Sue Danielson

Has your doctor ever given you a prescription for pain medication? Did you use all of the medication? Did you dispose of them? If so, how? These are just some of the questions you should be thinking about any time you are dealing with prescription opiates. Opiates are medications that relieve pain. Prescription painkillers may include drugs such as Vicodin (hydrocodone + acetaminophen), OxyContin (oxycodone), and morphine. Illicit opiates include heroin and opium. 

Do you know where your prescription opiates (painkillers) are going? More than three out of four people who misuse prescription painkillers use drugs prescribed to someone else.

When used correctly, these medications can be effective in treating pain. However, when these types of drugs are abused there can be life-threatening consequences, including overdose and death. Some signs of opiate misuse include: sedation, euphoria, respiratory depression, constricted pupils, confusion, and poor judgment. 

Did You Know?

• One in 15 people who take non-medical prescription pain relievers will try heroin within 10 years.
• Enough prescription painkillers were prescribed in 2010 to medicate every American adult around the clock for a month.
• In Wisconsin, 5.5 million prescriptions were dispensed each month in 2009.
• Since 1995, the number of teens between the ages of 12-17 who have tried heroin has increased by more than 300 percent.
• Nearly 15,000 people die every year of overdoses involving prescription painkillers.
• In La Crosse County, between 2008-11, 35 opioid-related deaths occurred.

If you have prescription medications at home that are no longer being used or expired, here are guidelines for disposal of the medications: Currently, the La Crosse County Sheriff, and La Crosse, Onalaska, West Salem, Campbell, and Bangor Police Departments have medication drop boxes. If you have pills or patches, they may be disposed of here. Liquids are not accepted. Due to new Federal regulations, the medication drop off events will no longer be occurring at this time.

If no medicine take-back program is available in your area, follow these simple steps to dispose of most medicines in the household trash:

• Mix medicines (do not crush tablets or capsules) with an unpalatable substance such as kitty litter or used coffee grounds;
• Place the mixture in a container such as a sealed plastic bag; and throw away the container in your household trash.
• Before throwing out your empty pill bottle or other empty medicine packaging, remember to scratch out all information on the prescription label to make it unreadable.

If you have questions regarding this, contact the La Crosse County Household Hazardous Waste Department at 608-785-9999 or www.co.la-crosse.wi.us/solidwaste/hhn/. 

Don’t become part of the problem, become part of the solution. Dispose of unused medication, seek help for substance abuse problems, never share or sell your prescription painkillers. Keep medications away from kids. For more information, contact health services at 608-796-3806 or scdanielson@viterbo.edu.

Information obtained from the CDC and the Wisconsin Drug Monitoring Program.