Perryville police to host prescription drug take back event Sept. 29 | Events

PERRYVILLE, MO (KFVS) - The Perryville Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration will be taking back unwanted prescription drugs on September 29 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

You can bring your medications for disposal to the Perryville Police Department at 120 North Jackson Street. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

Police say last April, Americans turned in 552,161 pounds or 276 tons of prescription drugs at over 5,600 sites operated by the DEA and nearly 4,300 state and local law enforcement partners. In their four previous Take Back events, the DEA and their partners took in over 1.5 million pounds, nearly 775 tons, of pills.

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. Police say 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. They say 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.

Four days after the first event, Congress passed the Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of 2010, which amends the Controlled Substances Act to allow an “ultimate user” 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. DEA is drafting regulations to implement the Act. Until new regulations are in place, local law enforcement agencies like Perryville Police Department and the DEA will continue to hold prescription drug take-back events every few months.

Copyright 2012 KFVS. All rights reserved.