On Saturday, Oct. 26, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the U. S. Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA) and local law enforcement agencies will give the
public its 18th 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 is free and anonymous with no questions
asked. (Liquids, needles and sharps cannot be accepted.)
Click
here or call toll-free (800) 882-9539 to locate the collection site nearest
you. Collection sites in North Oaks Health System’s service area
include: Target parking lot in Hammond, sponsored by the Tangipahoa Parish
Sheriff’s Office; and the Walker Police Department.
“We strongly encourage the community to take part in this initiative
by cleaning out your medicine cabinets and disposing of any prescription
drugs at a designated drop-off location near you,” urges North Oaks
Clinical Pharmacy Manager Jamie Covington. “Rates of prescription
drug misuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high – as are the number
of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to misuse of these drugs. Research
shows that the majority of misused and abused prescription drugs are obtained
from family and friends or stolen from the home medicine cabinet.”
The DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day addresses a vital
public safety and health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets
are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse and abuse. In addition, Americans
are now being 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.
In the spring of 2019, Americans turned in nearly 469 tons (937,443 pounds)
of prescription drugs at 6,258 sites operated by the DEA and 4,969 of
its state and local law enforcement partners. Overall, the DEA and its
law enforcement partners have now surpassed their 10 million pound goal
and collected nearly 11 million pounds of unused, unwanted or expired
prescription medications over the course of 17 successful DEA National
Prescription Drug Take Back events.