Do you have unused or unwanted medications or prescriptions taking up space in your cabinet at home?
Has your doctor ever changed your prescription, leaving you with full or partially full bottles of prescription medication?
Has a friend or relative recently passed away, leaving you with prescriptions you do not know how to properly dispose of?
PLEASE take advantage of the upcoming DEA Drug Take Back event hosted by the Kern County Sheriff's Office at multiple locations on Oct. 22nd. Never flush Rx medication down a toilet and never dispose of medications in trash cans. Please do not leave unwanted or unused medications to languish or sit in cabinets - these drugs can be potentially abused by family members, children, guests, or visitors to your home. Help Kern County improve the lives of our families by preventing prescription medications from making it into the hands of our children and teens. See flyer for more information.
Drug Abuse Stats
More than 1,600 teens begin abusing prescription drugs each day.
Many kids mistakenly believe prescription drugs are safer to abuse than illegal street drugs.
After marijuana and alcohol, the most common drugs teens are misusing or abusing are prescription medications.
12-17 year olds abuse prescription drugs more than ecstasy, heroin, crack/cocaine and methamphetamines combined.
Two-thirds of people 12 and older (68%) who have abused prescription pain relievers within the past year say they got them from a friend or relative.
The most commonly abused prescription drugs are pain medications, sleeping pills, anti-anxiety medications and stimulants (used to treat attention deficit/hyperactivity disorders).
Almost 1 in every 4 teens in America say they have misused or abused a prescription drug.
One in five teens (20%) who have abused prescription drugs did so before the age of 14.
9% of teens in a recent study reported using prescription pain relievers not prescribed for them in the past year, and 5% (1 in 20) reported doing so in the past month.
