Dangers loom in the medicine cabinet

“On Long Island, it’s humongously epidemic.” That’s how Claudia Rotondo, executive director of the Baldwin Council Against Drug Abuse, characterized prescription drug abuse in the area.

She explained that people of all ages — whether they’re healthy teenagers looking for a high or people in pain in need of relief — can quickly get addicted to prescription drugs.

In many homes across the country, an unused or expired bottle of prescription drugs may be sitting in a medicine cabinet. Rotondo said there’s been a significant rise in prescription drug abuse over the last decade and it’s due in part to people’s access to these drugs.

“When kids start using they go through what’s close at hand,” she said. “They’re always looking for the easy way to get their high. So they’ll go through the medicine cabinet at home and if parents don’t keep their prescription medications in a safe place, there’s a temptation there.”

For the last five years, Sanitary District No. 2 has hosted Shed the Meds events for residents to properly dispose of their unused or unwanted medications. Jerry Brown, a Sani 2 commissioner, noted that prescription drugs shouldn’t be thrown out like everyday garbage or tossed down the drain, because they could contaminate the waterways or ground.

At last year’s Shed the Meds event in Baldwin, 25 garbage bags filled with prescription drugs were turned in, Brown said. Sani 2 then turns the drugs over to police officers on hand. “There’s a lot of this stuff floating around, unfortunately,” Brown said.

The response from the community has grown each year, Brown added, and he’s expecting an even bigger turnout at this year’s Shed the Meds on May 2 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. behind Sani 2, 2090 Grand Ave. The Baldwin Council Against Drug Abuse and Town of Hempstead Employee Federal Credit Union are also sponsoring the event.

“We don’t think these drugs belong in medicine cabinets where they can fall into the wrong hands,” Brown said.

To keep prescription drugs out of the wrong hands, Rotondo tells parents not to keep them out in the open. If parents notice odd behavior, she added, it’s best to confront the issue rather than confront the person.