8/5/12 - What's In Your Medicine Cabinet? - KFVS12 News & Weather Cape Girardeau, Carbondale, Poplar Bluff

Did you know that a month's supply of Oxycodone could cost you about $2,400? Or that a month's supply of Hydrocodone is worth 1,000 bucks? Not in your pharmacy? Well, how about on your street? Because those dollar amounts I'm talking about are what people will pay right here in the Heartland to get their hands on your prescriptions.

Teens believe that using prescription drugs are a safer alternative than using street drugs. By survey, almost 50% of teens believe that prescription drugs are much safer than illegal street drugs—60% to 70% say that home medicine cabinets are where they get them. Prescription and over-the-counter medications accounted for most of the top drugs abused by high school seniors in the last year.

According to a study by the Foundation for a Drug Free World, prescription drugs are responsible for more deaths than meth, cocaine, heroin, amphetamines combined. And prescription drugs are much easier to get a hold of. Think about it. What's in your medicine cabinet right now? Scary thought, huh? Talk to your kids and take measures to secure your prescriptions. You'll be glad you did.

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