Do you have expired or unused prescription drugs in your home? On Saturday, April 26, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., bring your unwanted prescription drugs to the Pizza Hut parking lot on Hwy. 31 SW, and they will be safely disposed of, no questions asked.
“Prescription drugs are the most abused drugs, period,” says Hartselle Police Chief Ron Puckett. And according to a report released in October by the Trust for America’s Health, a nonprofit organization in Washington that studies health policy, the number of drug overdose deaths in Alabama has tripled since 1999. Then, there were 3.9 drug overdose deaths per 100,000 people; that number has grown to 11.8 per 100,000, giving Alabama the 26th highest drug overdose mortality rate in the United States. The TFAH report found that nationally about 6.1 million people abuse prescription pills, and overdose deaths have at least doubled in 29 states, where they now exceed vehicle-related deaths.
Just as alarming, a 2013 study from The Partnership at Drugfree.org and MetLife Foundation found that one in four teens has misused or abused a prescription drug at least once. “And we have found that most people who take prescription drugs out of someone’s medicine cabinet are family members,” says Chief Puckett.
Health officials used to recommend disposing of unused or expired prescription drugs by flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash. That is no longer considered to be an environmentally-safe option. Wastewater treatment plants are not designed to remove pharmaceuticals from the wastewater stream. Medicines in the wastewater stream and in landfills can end up in public water supplies, posing potential safety and health hazards.
To provide a safe way to dispose of unwanted prescription drugs – and keep them out of the hands of those who might abuse them – the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration coordinates the annual Prescription Drug Take-Back Day.
According to Sue Brantley, Executive Director of the Mental Health Association in Morgan County, participation in the local Take-Back Day has increased over the last several years. “They have collected everything imaginable – from liquids, cough medicines and pills to pain medications. You can drop off anything except needles and other sharps,” she explains. “We encourage everyone to take a close look at what is in your medicine cabinet – you don’t want to be an unwitting supplier to your children, grandchildren or friends, and you can help prevent prescription drug abuse by safely disposing of your unused or expired medications,” Brantley says.
For more information, call (256) 351-4816.