The dangers lurking in your medicine cabinet

As we fight the state of addiction in Cincinnati, it's becoming apparent that teenagers are more at risk than ever before -- and where they're getting addictive and dangerous drugs may shock you.It's not on the streets with a shady drug dealer. Too often, it's right in your home medicine cabinet.WLWT News 5's Sheree Paolello took a nurse into a Cincinnati-area family's home. They've had some injuries and illnesses over the years, like many families.Their medicine cabinet looked harmless enough. It was filled with drugs prescribed by a doctor.But for Katherine Engel, who treats drug addicts at the Center for Addiction Treatment in Cincinnati every day, this is a pill popper's dream and a teenager's temptation."Sometimes we tend to think the danger is on the street. But it can be right here in our medicine cabinets and it's accessible. It's right here," Engel said.Within seconds of opening the medicine cabinet door, the registered nurse is concerned. She sees one, two, three, four bottles of narcotics that are all more than a year old and dangerous for someone looking for a high.Engel said this is exactly what people are looking for. She said all of these drugs are very sought-after opioids with a high street value."The problem is the amount may not be what you need. You may not take them all. You may only take them for a couple of days and you may not think about it and then it goes right back in the cabinet," she said.No one knows how quickly curiosity can turn to compulsion better than 41-year-old Tim Johnson.He came from a middle class family, whose parents provided everything he needed: meals, clothes and education.But at the age of 13, he started experimenting with drugs and alcohol."A lot of ADD drugs. Those were easy to get in my high school. It was anything I could get my hands on. Anything I tried, I liked," Johnson said.Johnson said he went from marijuana to cocaine to pills and eventually, to heroin -- and he'd do anything to get high."Then I would do some and I'd need more and more and then there came to the point you start seeking it. I would go looking for it.I'm at someone's house and -- I'm gonna look," Johnson said.That is why Engel said treat your medicine cabinet the same way you would a liquor cabinet or gun. If you have prescription drugs, lock them up. If you're done with them, throw them out.Engel said addiction has no boundaries. She compares it to cancer. She said it's not a weakness, it's a disease they can't control."They may be a very moral person in every part of their life," Engel said. "But in this way, they look at the date. 'It's a year old. Nobody is gonna use it. Nobody is gonna notice. I really need it.I'll only take a couple.'"But as Johnson found out, one time as a teenager or one time for an addict, is one time too many.He spent 26 years fighting his demons. Finally, at the age of 41, he's clean. But many of his friends died trying.Saturday is Drug Take Back Day.The Warren County Sheriff's Office, Warren County Drug Task Force, Mason Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will get rid of your unused or expired pills for free, no questions asked.You can drop off your pills off at the Kroger on Terra Firma Drive in Mason from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.