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Health Department Taking Back Unwanted Prescription Drugs
On Saturday, April 27,
from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. the Toledo-Lucas County Health
Department (TLCHD) and the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration gave the public its 17th opportunity in nine
years to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes
of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted
prescription drugs.
The service was free and
anonymous, no questions asked. Last fall Americans turned in
nearly 460 tons (more than 900,000 pounds) of prescription
drugs at more than 5,800 sites operated by the DEA and
almost 4,800 of its state and local law enforcement
partners. Overall, in its 16 previous Take Back events, DEA
and its partners have taken in almost 11 million
pounds—nearly 5,500 tons—of pills.
This initiative addressed
a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines
that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to
diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug
abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of
accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs.
The Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Services Administration’s National Survey on
Drug Use and Health shows year after year that the majority
of misused and abused prescription drugs are obtained from
family and friends, including someone else’s medication
being stolen from the home medicine cabinet. In addition,
Americans are now advised that their usual methods for
disposing of unused medicines—flushing them down the toilet
or throwing them in the trash—both pose potential safety and
health hazards.
For more information about
the disposal of prescription drugs or about the April 27
Take Back Day event, go to www.DEATakeBack.com |
