This Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will give the public its 10th opportunity in five years to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs.
Bring your pills for disposal to the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office Annex, located at 110 W. Market St. in Washington Court House. When pulling into the parking lot area, drive to the entry door on the rear side of the building where deputies where meet you and take possession of your disposed medications. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked, said Sheriff Vernon Stanforth.
Last September, Americans turned in 309 tons (over 617,000 pounds) of prescription drugs at nearly 5,500 sites nationwide operated by the DEA and more than 4,000 of its state and local law enforcement partners. When those results are combined with what was collected in its eight previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners have taken in over 4.8 million pounds – more than 2,400 tons – of pills.
This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue, according to Stanforth. 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.
As a reminder, the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office also has a “Take Back” box in the lobby of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office located at 113 E. Market St. in Washington Court House where expired, unused, or unwanted medicines can be deposited 24 hours a day.
For more information about the disposal of prescription drugs or about this Saturday’s Take Back event, go to the DEA Office of Diversion Control site at www.dea.gov or by visiting the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office website at www.faycoso.com
