Prescription drug overdoses have overtaken road accidents as the primary cause of death in cities across North America. Most abusers of medicines, including teens, get the drugs not from a dealer, but from a friend or relative, often without their knowledge.
Of all calls (between 2001 and 2008) made to U.S. poison control centers from emergency rooms about children who had accidentally ingested a drug, 544,000 were about children age 5 and younger. And 454,000 were due to a single medication. The visits resulted in 66 deaths. (Cincinnati Children’s Hospital).
Alongside abuse and poisonings, evidence of environmental harm is growing. Antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers, and sex hormones have been detected in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans. Flushing drugs sends them through sewage treatment plants and into surface water. Landfilling drugs simply delays this process.
Full Circle’s is proud of our work with Take Back Your Meds and other programs, but we know it only begins to scratch the surface of this issue.
