Opioid Misuse Prevention Program

Prescription Drug Abuse Effort

"While prescription drugs help millions of people when used as prescribed, the abuse of these drugs causes many health risk including addiction and overdose" states Dr. Busby-Parker, Opioid Misuse Prevention Program Coordinator, with the Frederick County Health Department.  More than 7 million Americans currently abuse prescription drugs, according to the 2009 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration's National Survey on Drug Use and Health.  Each day approximately 2,500 teens use prescription drugs to get high for the first time, according to the Partnership for a Drug Free America.

The Frederick County Health Department has partnered with the local law enforcement agencies to get the word out of the dangers of prescription medication abuse and safe disposal of unused medicine.  There are six (6) permanent drop box locations throughout the county where citizens can safely dispose of their expired and/or unwanted household medicines and prescription drugs.  There are also two Drug Take Back drives each year around April and September.  This collaborative effort the Frederick County Health Department local law enforcement agencies and Whitesell's Pharmacy offer an effective and convenient way for concerned residents to help prevent illegal drug use and misuse in Frederick County.

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      Take Back Location HERE             Drop Box Locations

Take Back My Life

Too many people, families, careers, and promising futures are being destroyed by prescription opioid (painkillers) and heroin misuse across the country.  The Frederick County Opioid Misuse Prevention Program is helping individuals and parents get the facts, support, and treatment they need to overcome this crisis in our area.

Hear real stories of prescription opioid and heroin addiction at www.takebackmylife.org and learn more about prevention on Twitter: @FCHealthDept and Facebook: facebook.com/FCHealthDept or Call 211 for help and treatment options 24 hours a day, 7 days a weeks.  

Parents

Did you know?

The dangers of prescription drugs (Rx), including opioids, can lead to addiction, overdose, and death.

What are the risks?

There are both immediate and long-term risks to Rx medicine abuse.  In the short term, overdosing can be fatal, as can mixing Rx medicine with over-the counter medicine and/or alcohol.  In the long term, prescription opioids (pain relievers) and other prescription medicines have been proven to be addictive.  Relying on Rx medicines have been proven to be addictive.  Relying on Rx medicines at a young age to help "manage" life can establish a lifelong pattern of dependency and prevent teens from learning important coping skills.  The use of someone else's medicines is not only illegal but also dangerous.  When used as prescribed, prescription drugs are safe medications but misusing them has many health risk including addiction, overdose and even death.  Safeguard your medications with three steps.  Monitor.  Secure. Dispose.

Disposal and Storage

Disposal of unwanted medication is important so that drugs do not fail into the wrong hands.  It's important that medications are disposed of and destroyed using methods that are both legal and environmentally friendly (www.epa.gov)

Frederick County Medication Storage and Disposal Resource Guide: Protect your family by properly storing and disposing of you medications.  (Booklet)

How do I safely dispose of any household needles (Sharps)?

OMPP Coalition

The purpose of the Opioid Misuse and Prevention Program coalition is to provide input for strategic planning, develop implementation strategies, and activities to be conducted over the next several years to address the opioid misuse problem in Frederick County.  The OMPP Coalition will accomplish this through planning, implementation and evaluation of the strategies and activities.  The Coalition for OMPP currently includes members from Law Enforcement (Local, State and DEA), pharmacist, hospital, local government, substance abuse treatment, Frederick Community College, and Frederick County Public Schools.  The coalition meets every other month on the third Thursday of that month at 9:30 am.