FCSO to ‘Take Back’ unused, expired medication

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This weekend, residents will once again have the opportunity to dispose of their expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs.

On Saturday, April 27 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office will again partner with the Drug Enforcement Administration and other law enforcement agencies across the U.S. to give the public another opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous prescription drugs.

Those interested in “Drug Take-Back Day” will have three locations to drop off these medications. The first disposal site is the sheriff’s office annex building at 110 W. Market St. in Washington C.H. Residents interested in dropping off their old medication can pull to the rear parking lot where a deputy will meet them for disposal of medications, according to Sheriff Vernon Stanforth. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

In addition to the annex drop-off site, the sheriff’s office is accepting drop-offs at the 29th-annual Community Health Fair & Family Fun Day at Grace Community Church in Washington C.H. Also new this year is a site at Kroger which will also accept the old medication.

According to the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office, 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 abuse 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.

Stanforth also reminds the community that in addition to participating in the National Take Back Days, there is a disposal container in the lobby area of the sheriff’s office where these types of drugs can be disposed of any time throughout the year.

According to the DEA, last year they collected and destroyed close to one million pounds — nearly 475 tons — of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs, making it the most successful event in DEA history. This brings the total amount of prescription drugs collected by DEA since the fall of 2010 to 9,964,714 pounds, or 4,982 tons as of May of 2018.

For more information about the disposal of prescription drugs or about Saturday’s Take Back event, go to the DEA Diversion website at www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback/

Sgt. Jon Fausnaugh (left) with the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) collects some prescription medication at the FCSO Annex as part of the Drug Take Back Day last year.
https://www.recordherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2019/04/web1_20180428_123346.jpgSgt. Jon Fausnaugh (left) with the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) collects some prescription medication at the FCSO Annex as part of the Drug Take Back Day last year.

The Record-Herald

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