ST. GEORGE – Despite the rainy weather, law enforcement officers were in the Smith’s parking lot, located at 20 N. Bluff Street, Saturday providing a means for Washington County residents to safely dispose of their unwanted or expired prescription medications as part of the National Drug Take-Back Day.
After the prescription medications are collected, they are then given to the DEA to be destroyed.
“Even though it hasn’t been as big as some years due to the weather,” Logan Reid, prevention specialist with Southwest Behavioral Medicine said, “we still have managed to gather maybe 30 pounds of pills and we are only at the halfway point.”
The initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue.
Prescription drug abuse is becoming an epidemic, according to the Southwest Prevention website, largely due to the sheer volume of prescription drugs floating around. Almost 75 percent of kids who abuse prescription drugs, get them from their own home or that of a friend, according to the site.
“In addition, every year more than 71,000 children end up in the emergency room from unintentional medicine overdoses,” the site said. “We can curb these problems by getting rid of unused or expired medications.”
To prevent ground water contamination and environmental poisoning, people are discouraged from flushing their prescription drugs down the toilet.
Additional drug disposal instructions and information
- Never flush drugs down the toilet unless the label on the prescription directs you to do so. Click here for a list of Flushable Medications.
- Pharmacy take back: Many pharmacies have a ‘Take-Back Program’ allowing you to drop off your unused or expired medications. Check with your local pharmacist to see if this is an option. For example, Rite Aid has bags that can be purchased for $4 that customers can place their meds in and then mail directly to the incinerator.
- Drop boxes: Some communities have a drop box where you can leave your medications, no-questions-asked. Currently, the only boxes existing in the region are at the Washington County Sheriff’s department, the Hurricane City Police Department, the Washington City Police Department and the Cedar City Police Department.
The next Prescription Drug Take Back will also take place in the Smith’s parking lot in St. George on Oct. 26, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Click on photo to enlarge it, then use your left-right arrow keys to cycle through the gallery.
Washington County participates in National Drug Take-Back Day, St. George, Utah, Sept. 27, 2014 | Photo by Brett Barrett, St. George News
Washington County participates in National Drug Take-Back Day, St. George, Utah, Sept. 27, 2014 | Photo by Brett Barrett, St. George News
Washington County participates in National Drug Take-Back Day, St. George, Utah, Sept. 27, 2014 | Photo by Brett Barrett, St. George News
Washington County participates in National Drug Take-Back Day, St. George, Utah, Sept. 27, 2014 | Photo by Brett Barrett, St. George News
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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2014, all rights reserved.
why? are they running out of drugs to plant on people?
Wish I had known about this excellent activity BEFORE it was over!
I’m holding a bunch of my wife’s medications (she passed away a few months ago), and would have welcomed the opportunity to properly dispose of them in such an easy manner.
I have definitely marked the 26th October date of the next one on my calendar, and will also check into the “drop boxes” mentioned in the article!
wheres officer trump at?
they are my pills. i paid for them. you can not take back what was legally mine to begin with. What foolish nannies think up this stuff? The same ones as the “Gun Buy-Back” bunch?
What if that poor old lady got pulled over on the way to drop the pills off? The question I ask….why are the pills in a bag? Have you ever been stopped with pills in a bag? The cops ask all kinds of questions. Illegal transport of a narcotic. I see more than one bag. Would that not be intent to distribute a controlled substance? Where any of these people under the influence of such controlled substance whilst driving? I’m just saying that if I was driving a bunch of pills down the road and said I was on my way to drop them off to the cops, they would take me to jail and get the credit.
my buddies comment was not approved…..that’s a first!
Actually, the St George police department has a drop box in the front lobby as well. It is bright yellow and mounted to the ground. It is designed for all non liquid non wanted medications. But please, no needles.
source:
https://www.facebook.com/notes/st-george-utah-police-department/st-george-police-now-offers-drug-disposal-box/335180439863520