4 Of 5 New Heroin Users Start With Pills; Get Rid Of Unneeded Pills Saturday In Toms River

TOMS RIVER, NJ — We've all heard the statistics. In 2016, 209 people died of drug overdoses in Ocean County. Another 509 overdoses were reversed through the use of naloxone.

People rail about the heroin epidemic. They scream that government is not doing enough to stop it, that doctors aren't doing enough, that nothing is enough.

But did you know that four out of five people who use heroin for the first time actually became addicted to opioids because of prescription medications? That's one of several sobering statistices from the American Society of Addiction Medicine.

In 2015, drug overdoses killed 52,404 people, the No. 1 cause of accidental death in the United States, the ASAM said. Nearly half of those overdose deaths — 20,101 — were related to prescription pain relievers, ASAM said.

In 2015, there were 276,000 kids ages 12 to 17 who were using painkillers that were not prescribed to them, according to the ASAM said. Of those 276,000 kids, 122,000 were addicted to prescription pain relievers.

Where did they get them, you ask? The ASAM said most of those kids received the painkillers from a friend or relative who shared their own unused prescriptions.

How do we start to put the brakes on this epidemic? By not giving others our prescriptions. By cleaning out medicine cabinets and disposing of the pills safely.

This Saturday, April 29, the Toms River Police Department will be participating in National Drug Take Back Day. You can bring unneeded, unused and expired prescription drugs to the front lobby of the Toms River Police Department on Oak Avenue between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. You can turn the items anonymously, no questions asked. There is no charge to turn them in.

If you can't make it Saturday, the department's Project Medicine Drop box is accessible in the lobby 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In 2016, people turned in 2,000 pounds of prescription drugs in Toms River, Police Chief Mitch Little said.

“We were advised that our police department had the state’s highest collection amount," Little said.

He said that does not mean Toms River's illicit drug problem is worse than what exists in other towns.

"This is a credit to our programs that aggressively seek to educate residents on the dangers of keeping unwanted prescriptions within the home," Little said. "We encourage homeowners within our community to clean out their medicine cabinets and drop off expired and unused prescriptions this Saturday.”

Unused and expired prescription medications can also represent an environmental hazard. Most individuals are not aware of methods to properly dispose of their unused medicine, often flushing them down the toilet or throwing them away; both of which have potential safety and health hazards.

Mayor Thomas F. Kelaher stated, “This program is just one more weapon in our battle against drug addiction. I urge all of our residents to be a part of this effort to get prescription drugs off our streets.”

Solving the opioid crisis will take everyone getting involved. It can start with something as simple as cleaning out medicine cabinets — yours, and those of your loved ones.

Don't share your prescriptions. Don't keep them readily accessible to anyone who comes into your home. And get rid of them as soon as you no longer need them.

Photo by Karen Wall