Imagine for a moment that you own a firearm. You purchased the pistol legally, going through the necessary steps to acquire it. You got it as protection for you and your family. You decide to keep it within an arm’s length of your bed, so you have it in the top drawer of your nightstand. Now imagine you have a 5 year old son. A 5 year old son who wanders into your bedroom and finds the gun in the unlocked, unguarded location. It’s a terrifying thought.

Imagine that you recently had surgery on your knee. The doctor at the hospital prescribed you a potent painkiller and informs you of the specific instructions regarding use of the drug. Months later, your knee is fully healed, but you haven’t used all of the medication. You decide to put it in the medicine cabinet in case there is a similar situation in the future. Now, your 5 year old finds the medication and gets the lid open.

By this comparison you can see the dangers of keeping prescription drugs inside the home unmonitored. Many prescription drugs can be damaging, even fatal to a person of any size, but especially a child. Having prescription drugs in the home unguarded can be as dangerous as leaving a gun in an accessible location. Both can lead to disastrous circumstances.

It is important to keep prescription drugs in a safe and preferably locked location. When you are no longer in need of the drugs, it is imperative that you dispose of them in a proper way, returning them to a DEA take-back station for example. Keeping them in the home poses problems with addiction and often worse scenarios, so disposing of them properly is important to everyone’s safety.