The Daleville Department of Public Safety (DDPS) is partnering with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to provide area residents with the opportunity to safely dispose of any unused, unwanted or expired prescription drugs.
A Drug Take Back Day is scheduled for Saturday, April 26, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Grocery Outlet parking lot in Daleville. Residents can collect their unneeded prescriptions or over-the-counter pharmaceuticals and drop them off with the DDPS for proper disposal.
The service is free and anonymous, with no questions asked. Supervising officers will not touch or look through any surrendered items, investigator Sgt. Stacey Austin said.
Residents can bring any quantity or type of pills or liquid medications, with the exception of syringes. If medications are in their original containers, any labels containing personal information should be removed or blacked-out with a marker. If residents prefer, they can pour all of their drugs into one clear bag or container for disposal.
DDPS Police Chief Harvey Mathis said the event reminds residents to take the time to clean out their medicine cabinets and safely dispose of expired or unneeded medications, knowing that the drugs will not end up in the hands of someone that could misuse or abuse them.
According to the DEA, almost twice as many Americans (6.8 million) currently abuse prescription drugs than the number of those using cocaine, hallucinogens, heroin, and inhalants combined, according to the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that more Americans died in 2010 from overdoses of prescription medications (22,134, including 16,651 from narcotic painkillers) than from motor vehicle accidents. Surveys of prescription drug users have found that the majority of abused prescription drugs come from family and friends.
Mathis said the event also gives residents a safe way to dispose of drugs, versus flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash, which residents should never do.
Mathis said flushing pills down the toilet could contaminate the water supply, while drugs that are thrown in the trash can be retrieved and abused or illegally sold on the street.
To prevent prescription drug abuse and misuse and to protect the community from potential environmental and health hazards, the DDPS is helping residents remove unused prescriptions from their homes. At the last event in October, Austin said the DDPS collected more than 30 pounds of medications.
For more information on the Drug Take Back Day, visit Dea.gov or contact the Daleville Police Department at 598-4442.
Rules of Conduct
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Current users sign in here.
Register