County Police Participate in DEA’s First Nationwide Prescription Drug Take-Back Day

[Howard Hartman]

	DEPARTMENT OF POLICE MEDIA SERVICES DIVISION 2350 RESEARCH BOULEVARD ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND 20850-3294
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 16, 2010	FOR MORE INFORMATION:                         Media Services Division, 240-773-5030

Montgomery County Police Participate in DEA’s First
Nationwide Prescription Drug Take-Back Day

The Washington Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is partnering with local law enforcement agencies, government, and public health organizations across the country to present the first “Prescription Drug Take-Back Day.” The event takes place on Saturday, September 25, between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. This initiative is part of an effort to prevent the increasing problems of pill abuse and theft that are occurring nationwide.

Montgomery County Police are offering two drop-off locations to those with expired, unused, or unwanted prescription drugs. Officers with a collection box will be in the parking lots of the following police facilities:

• Montgomery County Police Headquarters - 2350 Research Blvd., Rockville, MD
• The 2nd District Police Station – 7359 Wisconsin Avenue, Bethesda, MD

The DEA is particularly interested in medications containing controlled substances, but will accept any medicines brought for disposal. All sites will take pills of all kinds. If possible, prescription labels should be removed or personal information should be blacked out; but pill bottles will still be accepted if the labels are attached. No questions will be asked. This is an opportunity to safely empty out a medicine cabinet of drugs that are no longer needed.

Many people flush unwanted pills to dispose of them, but this practice can contaminate the water supply. Recent studies by the Environmental Protection agency (EPA) and others have detected pharmaceutical drugs in varying concentrations in our nation’s water supplies. Drugs will indicate on their labels if they are flushable. It is also not advised to simply throw drugs away. The most recent national survey on drug use and health shows prescription medicines to be the most abused drugs by Americans other than marijuana. Seven of the ten drugs most commonly abused by teenagers are prescription medicines. Almost three-fourths of teen prescription drug abusers get the drugs from family and friends, with the home medicine cabinet a major source. These medicines should not be thrown in the trash where others could find them.

There are limited options for consumers to legally dispose of their old medicines. All the returned medications on Drub Take-Back day will be incinerated by the DEA according to federal and state environmental guidelines.

For more information on safe disposal

Go to this site