In the Boston area, parents are uniting to fight the epidemic of prescription drug addiction.
"A lot of parents find their kids dead," said Joanne Peterson, whose organization Learn to Cope helps families that have been damaged by prescription drug abuse.
Peterson is the mother of a recovering drug addict. She knows only too well the destruction that prescription drugs inflict. Peterson is happy the federal government decided to have its first nationwide prescription drug collection on Sept. 25. For four hours on that day, agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration will work with local and state police to collect and then burn unused prescription pills. The incineration of the pills will ensure that the pills are disposed of safely, for both environmental and public health concerns.
"It’s a huge public safety issue," said Peterson, who said addicts often target homes because they know that prescription medications will be inside.
Peterson will launch the fourth chapter of Learn to Cope in Massachusetts this week.
Prescription pill addiction is affecting an already stressed health care system. Many of the beds at taxpayer-funded opiate detox centers are filled with people struggling with an an addiction to pain medication. Many of those people are trying to be weaned off Suboxone, the pill used in opiate detox to reduce the effects of the drug withdrawal symptoms.
Tony Pettigre, a spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Administration, said the government agency has expanded the take-back program because the issue of prescription pain pill addiction has become an epidemic.
To find a drug collection near you, go to www.dea.gov and follow the links.
