There was a time when the word “epidemic” brought to mind the rampant spreading of an infectious disease within a community or a larger population, often within a short period of time, such as a flu epidemic.

I visualize disease being spread from poor hygiene habits, airborne germs or maybe because immunizations against the disease were not given.

So how has it happened that we are battling a new epidemic — the epidemic of prescription drug abuse — when prescription pills are thoughtfully prescribed by medical professionals and placed into sealed containers, not thrown into the air?

And how is it at all possible that this epidemic has affected so many teenagers in the United States?

From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an uptick in teenagers overdosing on prescription drugs has caused the almost doubling of fatal poisonings among American children within the past 10 years.

From 2000 to 2009, the number of children aged 15 to 19 who died from poisoning increased by 91 percent, the CDC says.

The big jump in poisonings ran counter to the overall rate of deaths from unintentional injuries to people up to age 19, which fell 29 percent to 11 in 100,000 children, or 9,143 fatalities, in 2009.

Childhood death from poisoning rose 80 percent over the 10-year time period, owing largely to the huge increase in such deaths among children age 15 to 19. Prescription drug abuse is to blame, according to the CDC.

The report says that the percentage of poisoning deaths among those aged 15 to 19 years with prescription drugs as a contributing cause increased from 30 percent in 2000 to 57 percent in 2009. Narcotic prescription painkiller overdoses kill 40 people a day, according to the CDC.

According to a State Epidemiologic Profile, there were an estimated 169 overdose deaths in Maine in 2010. Ninety five of those deaths involved pharmaceuticals.

According to the recently released 2011 Maine Integrated Youth Health Survey, 15 percent of high school students surveyed admitted to taking a prescription drug without a doctor’s permission, and 6 percent of middle school students admitted to this use.

Seven percent of high school students admitted to prescription drug misuse in the past 30 days, and 3 percent of middle school students admitted to prescription drug misuse within the past 30-days.

Let’s get back to the spread of this epidemic. How does it happen if these pills aren’t airborne or transmitted from poor hand washing? It happens right in our homes.

According to a 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 70 percent of people 12 and older who abuse prescription drugs get them from family and friends.

In fact, only 4.7 percent of children who abuse prescription drugs say they got the medication from a stranger, a drug dealer or the Internet. Does this mean that family and friends are encouraging young people to take prescription drugs?

Not likely. What it does mean is that somehow these teens had access to the drugs.

Access to medications that were left in areas where they could get them; unlocked medicine chests, kitchen cabinets, school lockers left open, unattended purses.

What can we you do to protect your children from these dangers?

Here are some easy precautions you can take:

— Protect Your Medicines: Lock your medicines in a locking cabinet and secure the key. If this is not possible, store your medications in a location where kids can’t find them.

— Monitor quantities: Take note of how many pills are in a bottle or pill packet, and keep an inventory sheet when you use your medications.

Ask the parents of your child’s friends to also safeguard their drugs in this way, so when your child visits other households you know they will not have easy access to prescription drugs.

— Follow doctor’s orders: Make sure your teen uses prescription drugs only as directed by their doctor and that they follow instructions for over the counter medications just as carefully. Set clear rules about never sharing medications.

— Be a good role model: If as a parent you misuse your prescription drugs — such as share them with your spouse or abuse them — you child will notice. Properly conceal and dispose of old or unused medicines.

The Drug Enforcement Agency hosts periodic community medication collections, with one upcoming on Saturday. There will be collection sites in West Bath, Topsham, Richmond, Brunswick, Phippsburg and Harpswell. For exact locations visit www.dea.gov.

Another disposal option includes medication drop boxes that are now located at six law enforcement agencies in Sagadahoc County and Brunswick. For more information about these disposal boxes, visit www.midcoastcasa.org.

Talk with your teens about the dangers of prescription drug abuse. In the 2011 MIYHS survey, only 45 percent of middle school students reported that at least one of their parents had talked to them about the dangers of alcohol, marijuana or other drugs at least once in the past year, and only 43 percent of high school students recalled such a conversation.

Your child is relying on you to give them the tools they need to be able to confidently refuse offers of alcohol or drugs.

Worried that you will not know how to have this conversation?

Visit www.midcoastparentsconnect.org to find some great tips, and to get more information about the Table Talk program that brings parents together to work on these conversation skills.

Report any suspicious drug activity you hear of (people selling drugs to teens, parties where you hear drugs will be offered, houses that teens may be talking about that have unlocked prescription drugs, etc.).

Local law enforcement agencies now offer an anonymous tip service, where your tip can be communicated via text message by texting your message with the word “eTip” at the beginning to 274637 (crimes).

Your tip will be encrypted immediately so your identity is protected before the text goes through. You also can send a tip via an online form that is now found on most law enforcement agencies in Sagadahoc County and Brunswick, or you can access the form on the Communities Against Substance Abuse website, www.midcoastcasa.org.

By taking these precautions, we can let the medical professionals in our community focus on the epidemics that are truly out of our control, and do our part to control the epidemic of prescription drug abuse.

Heidi Tucker is the coordinator for Communities Against Substance Abuse (CASA), the substance abuse prevention project of Mid Coast Hospital.

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