Breckenridge PD, DEA to collect old prescription pills on Saturday, April 28
Twice a year, the Breckenridge Police Department teams with the Drug Enforcement Administration to help local residents get rid of old prescription drugs they don’t want or need anymore. The 2018 spring Take Back Day will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 28, in the parking lot next to Allsup’s in the 500 block of West Walker Street.
It will be the 15th opportunity in seven years that citizens have had the chance to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs. The program is for pills or patches only, since the DEA cannot accept liquids or needles or sharps.
The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.
Last fall Americans turned in 456 tons (912,000 pounds) of prescription drugs at more than 5,300 sites operated by the DEA and almost 4,300 of its state and local law enforcement partners, including Breckenridge. Overall, in its 14 previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners have taken in more than 9 million pounds — more than 4,500 tons — of pills.
According to information from the DEA, the initiative addresses a 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 high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to the 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. Additionally, 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 28 Take Back Day event, go to www.DEATakeBack.com or contact Bacel Cantrell with the Breckenridge Police Department 254-559-2211.
