Drug Take Back Day to be held Oct. 24
The Greene County Drug and Alcohol Program and the county sheriff’s office are partnering with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Oct. 24 to “take back” unwanted prescription drugs at the Greene County Courthouse.
The Greene County Drug Take Back Day will provide residents the opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs.
Anyone wishing to dispose their pills during the program are asked to visit the courthouse’s Church Street entrance.
Program coordinators said liquids, needles or sharps cannot be accepted, only pills or patches.
The service is free and anonymous.
This October’s event is DEA’s 19th nationwide event since its inception 10 years ago. The local event is part of the DEA’s nationwide drug take back initiative.
According to information provided by the county drug and alcohol program, last fall Americans turned in nearly 883,000 pounds of prescription drugs at nearly 6,300 sites operated by the DEA and almost 5,000 of its state and local law enforcement partners.
DEA, along with its law enforcement partners, has now collected nearly 6,350 tons of expired, unused and unwanted prescription medications since the inception of the National Prescription Drug Take Back Initiative in 2010.
Collection sites will follow local COVID-19 guidelines and regulations.
This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. According to DEA officials, medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the United States are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses because of these drugs.
In addition to DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, there are many other ways to dispose of unwanted prescription drugs every day, including the 11,000 authorized collectors that are available all year. For more information, visit DEA’s year-round collection site locator.
The FDA also provides information on how to properly dispose of prescription drugs. For more information, visit https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/where-and-how-dispose-unused-medicines.
For more information about the disposal of prescription drugs or about the Oct. 24 Take Back Day event, call the Greene County Drug and Alcohol Program at 724-852-5276 or visit www.DEATakeBack.com.