Narconon Arrowhead Promotes National Take-Back Day
Prescription drug abuse is the fastest growing category of addiction in the United States, and it often feels as if there is almost nothing we can do about it. Prescription painkiller drugs are legal, and there are handed out by doctors in the millions. The broad availability of these drugs is one of the reasons that so many Americans have become addicted. Narconon Arrowhead is helping do something about it by promoting National Take-Back Day.
Why are So Many Americans Addicted
The patients that are supposed to take these drugs are not immune from becoming addicts. Any time a person uses a drug for a long period of time, there is a chance that the person will become tolerant to the drug. This means that the body has been subjected to the effects of that drug for so long that it has started to figure out ways to counteract it.
When this happens, the pain pills the patient is taking no longer do much to dull his pain. While some patients may go back to their doctors and ask for an alternate solution, many decide to self-medicate. This means that they ignore the instructions of their doctors and just start taking as many pills as they need to in order to feel comfortable.
The problem with this approach is that high quantities of these drugs in your system can easily lead to becoming dependent on the drugs. Many American painkiller addicts didn’t realize that they were becoming dependent while they were taking ever-increasing quantities of these drugs.
Drugs Around the House
Another problem with modern American meds is the way we store them in our homes. Many patients will put their pill bottles in cabinets or drawers that can easily be accessed by any member of their families. Many of us even still put pill bottles in the bathroom “medicine cabinet.”
The problem with this location is that these drugs are extremely powerful and they need to be protected. You wouldn’t leave cocaine and meth around in a household with curious children, would you? Of course not. You recognize that these are dangerous, poisonous drugs and that they could kill your children.
In the same manner, legal, widely available prescription drugs can prove fatal to young people, or could simply be abused to get high. In order to keep our families safe, Americans need to start taking better care of the drugs they have in their homes.
Take Back Days are a Start
One solution to this problem is National Take Back Day. On the 26th of April, everyone in the country is encouraged to go through their homes and find any unused, old drugs. These drugs can then be dropped off at “take back” locations throughout the community. Officials then destroy these old drugs so that they can’t negatively affect anyone in the household.
Narconon Arrowhead feels that this is a great start, but it doesn’t completely handle the problem. While it takes care of old drugs, there is much more we can do to handle prescription drugs in the home. For example, families can lock up all the drugs they have. Instead of putting them in cupboards or drawers, buy a locking safe and put the pills inside. If you start treating medications the same way you would a loaded handgun, you’re on the right track.
An even better solution would be for Americans to start examining whether or not we even need so many prescription meds. In many cases, we don’t, and deciding not to use them in the first place will lower prescription drug abuse rates even further.
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