Get Rid Of Your Old Drugs

By Dr. Brian McDonough, Medical Editor

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - I talked about this issue a few months ago and was asked by quite a few listeners to bring it up again. It is the idea that the most dangerous part of your bathroom might be the medicine cabinet. It often becomes a storage area for old medications that you want to keep around just in case you need them.

The problem is the medication that's good for one person with one health problem isn't always good for the other and then there is the difficulty with expired drugs. They can make you sick, or they can even poison you.

Remember, young children are curious and they might want to see what's in those bottles.

If you have teens, consider this very disturbing point. While illicit drug and alcohol use among teens is down, the use of prescription painkillers among people ages eight to 25 is up. In fact, prescription painkillers are now attracting the most users of any drugs.