Prescription Drug Abuse

Dr. Drew Introduces Rx Locker to Prevent Teen Prescription Drug Abuse

Due to the rising problem of teens and prescription drug abuse, Dr. Drew Pinsky, host of “Celebrity Rehab” and “Sex Rehab,” recently debuted the Rx Locker, a device designed to secure prescription medications within the home to restrict unauthorized access and prevent abuse.

The Office of the National Drug Control Policy indicated that everyday, 2,500 teenagers, ages 12-17, will abuse prescription medication for the first time. Access to prescription medications like Vicodin and OxyContin is often far too easy: 70% of teens who abused say they got the prescription drugs from family and friends (National Survey on Drug Use and Health).

To combat this growing problem, Dr. Drew and his team designed the Rx Locker, a locking storage device designed to hold up to four prescription pill bottles and still fit inside a standard medicine cabinet. A chromed metal combination lock provides convenient access for the user while ensuring secure storage and privacy. The Rx Locker is available now at www.RxLocker.com.

Dr. Drew recently spoke to about the issue of prescription drug abuse among teens when he visited “The Bonnie Hunt Show.”

"All too often the medication prescribed by a doctor to parents and grandparents are being accessed by their kids. We need to keep these medications locked up and send a message to our children that they are potentially dangerous. Locking up Rx medications is the only way to ensure that their access will be restricted only to those with prescriptions. However, a practical, affordable and simple solution to this ever-increasing problem has not existed until now," Dr. Drew said.

Teens aren’t the only ones being hurt by the unfettered access to prescription pills. Young children can accidentally find and ingest medications where even a small dose can be deadly. According to National Poison Prevention Week, each year unintentional poisonings from medicines and household chemicals kill about 30 children and prompt more than 1 million calls to the nation’s poison control centers.

Dr. Drew Pinsky is a practicing medical doctor who is board certified in internal and addiction medicine. He is also the executive producer and host of several television series including "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew," "Sober House" and "Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew" as well as the host of the nationally syndicated radio show "Loveline." He is the author of “Cracked: Putting Broken Lives Together Again, When Painkillers Become Dangerous” and the New York Times bestseller “The Mirror Effect: How Celebrity Narcissism is Seducing America.”