DEA plans Drug Take-Back Day
It’s often perplexing to figure out the most unobjectionable way to dispose of unwanted or expired prescription medication. To assuage this perennial problem, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has announced its 13th National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day.
Alabama Attorney General Steven T. Marshall issued an encouragement for Alabamians to participate in the upcoming take-back event, set for April 29, at various locations throughout the state. This year’s event has approximately 82 collection sites scheduled to be available in Alabama from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
In Franklin County, the CVS Pharmacy on Highway 43 in Russellville has been established as a participating location.
The program is sponsored by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration “to combat the abuse or misuse of potentially dangerous medicines that have expired or are no longer needed for those whom these controlled substances were prescribed,” Marshall’s memo explained. “Law enforcement officers will be present at sites throughout Alabama to receive unused prescription drugs for safe and proper disposal.”
Since the first Take-Back event in Alabama, in September 2010, the program continues to increase in the amount of drugs collected. DEA Prescription Drug Take-Back events last fall collected an estimated 3,545 pounds in Alabama of unwanted, expired or unused drugs for proper disposal. Throughout all of Alabama’s previous DEA Prescription Drug Take-Back events, a total of about 47,425 pounds of unwanted, unused or expired drugs have been removed and disposed of safely.
“Prescription Drug Take-Back is a valuable public service that protects our children, our homes and our environment,” said Marshall. “As a prosecutor for 16 years, too often I have witnessed the tragic results caused by the availability of dangerous controlled substances. When prescription drugs are left in our homes, children and teenagers may be poisoned or fall prey to drug abuse and addiction. Your old medications can be a lure to criminals looking for drugs to use or sell. This Saturday, please take the opportunity to remove these hazards by bringing prescription drugs that are out-of-date or no longer needed to collection sites for their safe and proper disposal.”
Law enforcement agencies and interested community partners such as pharmacies, schools and civic groups are working together to provide as many local sites as possible throughout Alabama. Each site will be supervised by a law enforcement officer due to the involvement of controlled substances.
Deliveries of drugs to DEA Prescription Drug Take-Back Day events are confidential, with no personal information collected and no questions asked. Participants are encouraged to remove labels or black-out information beforehand.
Many teenagers and young people who abuse prescription drugs get them from family and friends or from their home medicine cabinets. Prescription drugs pose dangers to children and others who might take them by accident or who use them for abusive purposes. Expired drugs can have lost their effectiveness and therefore no longer be a safe and adequate treatment for the conditions for which they were prescribed. In addition to concerns of potential poisoning, abuse or overdose, it also is important environmentally that medicines be disposed of in a proper manner rather than simply being thrown into garbage, flushed away or poured down drains, as they could contaminate water supplies and cause an environmental hazard.
People who wish to participate should inquire with their local law enforcement agencies or may check the DEA website for nearby locations. A listing of sites may be found through a search at www.dea.gov.
