On
October 26 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. police agencies across the country and the
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will give the public its seventh opportunity
in three years to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of
potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs. Bring your medications for disposal to a
listed site. Use the below link to find a site near you. The
service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.
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.
DEA is in the process of
approving new regulations that implement the Safe and Responsible Drug Disposal
Act of 2010, which amends the Controlled Substances Act to allow an “ultimate
user” (that is, a patient or pet or their family member or owner) of controlled
substance medications to dispose of them by delivering them to entities
authorized by the Attorney General to accept them. The Act also allows the Attorney General to
authorize long term care facilities to dispose of their residents’ controlled
substances in certain instances.
To
find a collection site near you, call 1-800-882-9539 or
No comments:
Post a Comment