When Danny Marlowe looks in the rearview mirror, chances are he'd change a few decisions he made along the way.
"At first, it was just to deal with pain, I saw my mom doing it and then it just became a habit," said Marlowe, referring to prescription pain pills.
It all started when his mother was prescribed prescription painkillers. When Marlowe got into a car accident, he got more powerful medication.
"It's a very euphoric feeling," said Marlowe. "It puts you in a good mood, it numbs you, it takes you away from yourself, it takes you away from your problems."
DEA is partnering with local law enforcement to allow Ohioans to get rid of their unwanted prescription drugs, no questions asked.
For 12 to 14 years, Marlowe says he replaced a beer with pills to celebrate a good day and took a few more to take the edge off a bad day. Eventually, he says nothing else mattered besides getting more drugs until he got clean nearly 19 months ago.
"I would go through jobs, I would lose jobs, I would show up late to work, I would leave work," said Marlowe. "I was putting that stuff in front of anything else."
Marlowe says his addiction happened fast. Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Keith Martin says it doesn't just happen to Marlowe. Martin says 60 percent of teens who abuse prescription pills get them from family or friends.
Danny cleans his car in his driveway on the day that he was sober for 18 months.
"Pills that probably should have been disposed of or discarded that have not been," said Martin.
Those are the pills can lead to more dangerous drugs.
"[Addicts] don't wake up in the morning and say, 'I'm going to use heroin today,' and stick a needle in their arm," said Martin.
Drug take-back day on Saturday, Oct. 27 can stop all that, allowing Ohioans to get rid of their leftover pills for them to be thrown away properly at locations all over the region, no questions asked.
You can search for locations to turn in unwanted or unneeded prescription drugs here.
You can find additional resources to fight addiction at the links below:
