On Saturday, April
29, 2017 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Reserve
Officers and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will give the public its
13th opportunity in 7 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
VBCH Community Services Center (Upper Level of the Hospital’s Daycare) at 308
Mulberry Street, Keosauqua, IA 52565 (Entrance to the Van Buren County Hospital’s
Emergency Room – Building on the Left). The
DEA cannot accept liquids, inhalers, needles or sharps, only pills or patches. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.
Last October,
Americans turned in 366 tons (over 730,000 pounds) of prescription drugs at almost
5,200 sites operated by the DEA and more than 4,000 of its state and local law
enforcement partners. Overall, in its 12
previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners have taken in over 7.1 million
pounds—more than 3,500 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.
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