You can dispose of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs today in Oak Ridge and Clinton.
The National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 30, at the Oak Ridge Police Department and Clinton Police Department. Allies for Substance Abuse Prevention of Anderson County and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration are helping with the event.
It’s the 11th time in six years that an event like this has been held, a press release said.
You can bring your pills for disposal to the ORPD at 200 South Tulane Avenue in Oak Ridge or to the Clinton Police Department at 125 West Broad Street in Clinton. The DEA cannot accept liquids, needles, or sharps, only pills or patches. The service is free and anonymous. No questions will be asked, the press release said.
Last September, Americans turned in 350 tons, or more than 702,000 pounds, of prescription drugs at more than 5,000 sites operated by the DEA and more than 3,800 of its state and local law enforcement partners, the press release said. Overall, in its 10 previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners have taken in over 5.5 million pounds—or more than 2,750 tons—of pills.
The release said this 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 U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including 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 30 Take Back Day event, go to the DEA Diversion website at http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback/index.html or www.asapofanderson.org.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
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