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New Hampshire to Give Lock Boxes for Medicine to Parents

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[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]T[/dropcap]he New Hampshire state government is currently giving out lock boxes for prescription drugs, cannabis and other controlled substances to parents who want to keep  their medicine away from their children.

According to the Associated Press, about 800 or so families will be receiving these boxes and safe disposal bags to protect their substances. The Capital Area Public Health Network and the Rx Abuse Leadership Initiative of New Hampshire said on Sept. 24 that they will be distributing the boxes at family-friendly events.

The idea is to prevent substance misuse and to build on other programs that try to keep kids away from controlled substances. Annika Stanley-Smith, the network’s director of substance misuse prevention, claims that this is a way to help counteract the state’s opiate crisis. “Prevention can’t just be one event at one time. Prevention needs to happen every day and everywhere. We need to stack up protective factors,” she said. “We want to meet people where they’re at.”

A study from July observed data regarding 18,000 high school students, and found that 11 percent of them misused prescription medication. Most commonly, the kids had access to medication through family members and friends. A step like this will help give parents a safe, off-limits place to store their medications, whether it’s prescription drugs or cannabis medicine. “We did not get into this crisis overnight, and we’re not going to get over it overnight, but I think educating our youth to the dangers of prescription drugs is critical for their survival,” Fire Chief Brian Rhodes said about the ongoing opioid crisis.

New Hampshire has made many positive strides toward cannabis. Officials recently overrode a governor veto on home cannabis cultivation, and a committee officially passed a measure to try and legalize cannabis. This is even more proof of their sensitive, and safe, policies.

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