Opioids are drugs a doctor might prescribe for pain relief. For example, your doctor might give you a medication with codeine, hydrocodone, morphine, or oxycodone to relieve pain from an injury or after a surgery. Some brand names for these medications include OxyContin, Percocet, and Vicodin. But there are many more. What many people don’t know is that opioids can be highly addictive. This means you could lose control over your use of them and feel sick without them. Using opioids with alcohol, anxiety or sleep medications, and some antidepressants can increase overdose risk. In addition to risking an accidental overdose, people may use opioids to attempt suicide. For these reasons combined, it is important that we take preventative measures to ensure medications are not misused in the home and that household members are aware of the risks involved with misusing over-the-counter and prescription medications. The following resources are excellent ways to ensure safety in your home.

Medication Lock Boxes

Prescription abuse is taking any medication prescribed for someone else, or taking a higher dosage or in a manner than has not been prescribed.

Prescription drug abuse is a national epidemic – more than 115 Americans die each day from an opioid overdose. Opioids (including prescription opioids and heroin) killed more than 33,000 people in 2015, more than any year on record. Nearly half of all opioid overdose deaths involve a prescription opioid.

LOCKMED Lock Boxes are medication storage containers designed to help safeguard medications in the home. When medications are stored properly, the risk of intentionally or accidental overdose as well as misuse is reduced significantly.

Medications Disposal Kits (Deterra(c)

Nationally, almost 70 percent of people who abused prescription drugs say they got them from a family member or friend. Proper prescription drug disposal ensures that drugs won’t fall into the hands of those they can hurt the most.

The Deterra Safe Medication Disposal Kit is a safe, convenient and affordable disposal option that’s permanent. Each kit is proven to destroy medication, environmentally sound and non-toxic, and able to be thrown in the normal household trash.

You can also talk to your doctor or pharmacist about safe drug drop-off locations to dispose of leftover medications.

Trigger/Cable Locks

As a gun owner, you can choose from multiple options for safely storing and protecting your firearms when they’re not in use. A cable lock can be used on most firearms, allows for quick access in an emergency and offers security from theft. The cable runs through the barrel or action of a firearm to prevent it from being accidentally fired, requiring either a key or combination to unlock it.

This is just one of many storage options available to firearm owners. For the greatest level of security, consider using a combination of safety mechanisms and educate family members about handling firearms properly.

Informational Materials

As a coalition, we have access to a wide variety of tangible supports and resources that we want to see shared throughout our community. From our virtual/in-person trainings, support groups, events, printed materials, and online resources, we have all the bases covered! You can click the ‘Place Order’ button below to let us know exactly what we’re looking for and we can have it delivered to you in as little as a few days. Here are just a few examples of topical areas that we can share: