Recently we blogged keeping your prescriptions safe during home showings and Open Houses. We mentioned there may be a Drug Take Back Day coming up in April.
On April 26 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. the agencies listed below and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will give the public its eighth opportunity in three years to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs. Bring your pills for disposal to the addresses listed below. (The DEA cannot accept liquids or needles or sharps, only pills or patches.) The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.
Last October, Americans turned in 324 tons (over 647,000 pounds) of prescription drugs at over 4,114 sites operated by the DEA and its thousands of state and local law enforcement partners. When those results are combined with what was collected in its seven previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners have taken in over 3.4 million pounds—more than 1,700 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. 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.
DEA is in the process of approving new regulations that implement the Safe and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of 2010, which amends the Controlled Substances Act to allow an “ultimate user” (that is, a patient or their family member or pet owner) 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.
| PARTICIPANTS NAME | COLLECTION SITE | ADDRESS | CITY | STATE, ZIP | |
| HILL AIR FORCE BASE | HILL AIR FORCE BASE PHARMACY | 7321 BALMER STREETBLDG 570 | HILL AFB | UT, 84056 | Map |
| SUNSET POLICE DEPARTMENT | SMITH’S FOOD AND DRUG | 2353 NORTH MAIN STREET | SUNSET | UT, 84015 | Map |
| CLINTON POLICE DEPARTMENT | MACEY’S GROCERY STORE | 2062 WEST 1800 NORTH | CLINTON | UT, 84015 | Map |
| SYRACUSE POLICE DEPARTMENT | SMITH’S FOOD AND DRUG | 951 WEST 1700 SOUTH | SYRACUSE | UT, 84075 | Map |
| LAYTON POLICE DEPARTMENT | SMITH’S FOOD AND DRUG | 1170 EAST GENTILE STREET | LAYTON | UT, 84040 | Map |
| FARMINGTON POLICE DEPARTMENT | SMITH’S FOOD AND DRUG | 1316 NORTH U.S. HIGHWAY 89 | FARMINGTON | UT, 84025 | Map |
| BRIGHAM CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT | SMITH’S FOOD AND DRUG | 156 SOUTH MAIN STREET | BRIGHAM CITY | UT, 84302 | Map |
| WOODS CROSS POLICE DEPARTMENT | WOODS CROSS POLICE DEPARTMENT | 1555 SOUTH 800 WEST | WOODS CROSS | UT, 84087 | Map |
| BOUNTIFUL POLICE DEPARTMENT | SMITH’S FOOD AND DRUG | 2399 SOUTH MAIN | BOUNTIFUL | UT, 84010 | Map |
**Above information is from the U.S. Department of Justice – Office of Diversion Control
