Breckenridge Police Department to hold Drug Take Back Day on Saturday, Oct. 23
According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, the majority of teenagers who abuse prescription drugs get them from family and friends and places like the home medicine cabinet.
On Saturday, Oct. 23, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. the Breckenridge Police Department and the USDA will provide the public the opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs at the semi-annual National Prescription Drug Take Back Day.
Area residents are encouraged to take their old pills for disposal to W5 Pharmacy, 1110 E. Walker St. The Take-Back program cannot accept liquids, needles or sharps, only pills or patches. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.
Unused prescription drugs thrown in the trash can be retrieved and abused or illegally sold, according to the USDA. Unused drugs that are flushed contaminate the water supply. Proper disposal of unused drugs saves lives and protects the environment.
If you are unable to take your old prescription medications to the Take Back event on Saturday, you may take them to the BPD in the lobby of the Stephens County Law Enforcement Center, 210 E. Dyer St. There is a box there that you may drop your unwanted prescription drugs into. It is available to the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
This month’s event is the DEA’s 21th semi-annual, nationwide event since its inception in 2010. The DEA, along with its law enforcement partners, has now collected over 7,000 tons of expired, unused, and unwanted prescription medications and other items over the past 11 years. In April of this year, The BPD was one of 199 sites that participated in the event, collecting a state total of 65,791 pounds of prescription drugs and other items.
The initiative addresses 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 United States are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs.
The FDA also provides information on how to properly dispose of prescription drugs. More information is available here: 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. 23 Take Back Day event, go to www.DEATakeBack.com or call the Breckenridge Police Department’s non-emergency number, 254-559-2211.
