By Staff Report
Got a medicine cabinet full of unused and unwanted prescription drugs? If so, for the seventh time in three years, the Morgan Hill Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Agency will take them off your hands. Bring the medications for disposal to the police department, 16200 Vineyard Blvd., from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 26 and help prevent abuse and theft by ridding your home of potentially dangerous, expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.
Last April, Americans turned in more than 371 tons (more than 742,000 pounds) of prescription drugs at more than 5,800 sites operated by the DEA and its thousands of state and local law enforcement partners, according to a press released from the Morgan Hill Police Department. It its six previous events, DEA and its partners took in more than 2.8 million pounds – more than 1,400 tons – of pills.
This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that lanquish 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.
