By Gail A. Tierney
Public Information Officer

[img_assist|nid=568|title=|desc=|link=url|url=http://citrusdaily.com/lecanto/think-hurricanes/2009/05/05/5060.html|align=left|width=90|height=113]Hey, parents, how about a “new” New Year’s resolution for 2010? Monitor your family’s prescription drugs and keep them in a secure place.

Know precisely how many pills should be in a bottle or blister pack at any given time.

Prescription drug abuse is on the rise not only here in Citrus County, but across the nation as well. While this form of abuse knows no age or socio-economic boundaries, teens are at a time in their lives when they’re spreading their wings, trying new things and experimenting.

Prescription painkillers and other medications help lots of people live more productive lives, freeing them from the symptoms of such medical conditions as chronic pain, depression or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; however, that’s only when they’re prescribed by a doctor for a particular individual as treatment for a specific condition.

Taking prescription drugs in a way that hasn’t been recommended by a physician can be more dangerous than the average person thinks. In fact, it’s outright drug abuse. Taking drugs without a prescription, sharing a prescription drug with friends or selling prescription drugs to classmates is actually breaking the law. Perhaps more importantly, actions like these put people’s lives at risk.

Prescription drugs sometimes can be easier to get than typical street drugs like marijuana, cocaine or methamphetamine. Realistically, family members or friends could have a valid prescription. But prescription drugs also are sold on the street like other illegal drugs.

Why do teens take the chance when they experiment with someone else’s prescription? Some young people think that prescription drugs must be safer and less addictive than street drugs. After all, if mom, dad or a kid sister takes it, how dangerous can it be?

Overdosing isn’t the only way drugs can kill. Basic science tells us that chemicals and compounds sometimes react adversely with each other. So it can be risky – even deadly – to take certain medications or drugs together, or while smoking or drinking alcoholic beverages.

Sheriff Jeff Dawsy’s award-winning School Resource Officer (SRO) program includes specific lessons about prescription drug abuse in its Filtering Out Crime United with Students (FOCUS) and Jr. FOCUS curricula. SROs teach school children about the dangers of raiding the family’s medicine cabinet and sharing or sampling what they find there.

The Citrus County Sheriff’s Office also joins with Partners for a Substance-free Citrus, Inc., every first Friday of the month for “Operation Medicine Cabinet.” That’s the day when deputies will accept and properly dispose of unused or expired prescription drugs. From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., citizens can drop off old prescriptions at the Sheriff’s Operations Center in downtown Inverness. Not only is it good for the environment, it’s just the right thing to do.

Gail Tierney is public information officer for the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office. She has been with the agency for 20 years. Comments or suggestions may be directed to Gail at 352-341-7460 or gtierney@sheriffcitrus.org.