, 56° F
From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, the Powell and Cody police departments will offer local residents a chance to easily clear old drugs out of their medicine cabinets.
Hosted in cooperation with …
This item is available in full to subscribers.
The Powell Tribune has expanded its online content. To continue reading, you will need to either log in to your subscriber account, or purchase a subscription.
If you are a current print subscriber, you can set up a free web account by clicking here.
If you already have a web account, but need to reset it, you can do so by clicking here.
If you would like to purchase a subscription click here.
Please log in to continue |
|
From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, the Powell and Cody police departments will offer local residents a chance to easily clear old drugs out of their medicine cabinets.
Hosted in cooperation with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the agencies will accept potentially dangerous expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs and properly dispose of them. (Sites cannot accept liquids, needles or sharps, only pills or patches.)
All you have to do is bring your medications to the Powell or Cody police departments, located at 250 N. Clark St. in Powell and 1402 River View Dr. in Cody. The service is free and anonymous, with no questions asked.
The medications are being collected as part of the 18th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, which is aimed at preventing pill abuse and theft by destroying unwanted medications.
An identical event in April collected 468.72 tons of drugs at more than 6,200 sites across the country. Overall, in its 17 previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners have gathered up more than 11.8 million pounds — approximately 5,900 tons — of pills.
“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 DEA says, adding that, “Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse and abuse.”
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health consistently shows 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. In addition, disposing of unused medicines by flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash can pose potential safety and health hazards, the DEA says.
For more information about the disposal of prescription drugs or Saturday’s Take Back Day event, visit www.DEATakeBack.com or contact the Powell Police Department at 307-754-2212 or the Cody Police Department at 307-527-8700.
