On Saturday, April 27, 2019 from 10:00
a.m. to 2:00 p.m. the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration will give the public its 17th opportunity in nine
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 Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office at 907 Broad Street,
Keosauqua, IA 52565. (Sites cannot accept liquids, inhalers or needles/sharps,
only pills or patches.) The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.
Last fall Americans turned in nearly 460
tons (more than 900,000 pounds) of prescription drugs at more than 5,800 sites
operated by the DEA and almost 4,800 of its state and local law enforcement
partners. Overall, in its 16 previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners
have taken in almost 11 million pounds—nearly 5,500 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. The Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health shows
year after year that the majority of misused and abused prescription drugs are
obtained from family and friends, including someone else’s medication being
stolen 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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