National Prescription Drug Take Back Day

Local police departments are taking back unwanted prescription drugs on April 30, and Atlantic General Hospital now offers 24-hour per day medication disposal drop box.

Mark your calendars! On Saturday, April 30, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., several local police departments including Ocean Pines, Berlin, Pocomoke, Snow Hill along with the U. S. Drug Enforcement Administration will give the public the opportunity 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 any of the sites listed below or visit DEA.gov for a list of collection sites near you. Additional collection sites can also be found by calling 1-800-882-9539.

Local drug take back sites:

• Atlantic General Hospital Main Lobby
• Berlin Police Station
• Ocean Pines Police Station
• Worcester County Sheriff’s Office in Snow Hill
• Pocomoke Police Department

While the DEA cannot accept liquids, needles or sharps, the AGHRx RediScripts Pharmacy MedSafe medication disposal box located within the lobby of Atlantic General Hospital can accept liquid medications up to 4 ounces if in a sealed bag. Atlantic General Hospital will also offer to collect and dispose of unwanted needles or sharps at the event. Sharps must be stored in an FDA approved sharps container (no coffee cans on laundry detergent containers). The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked. If you miss the DEA takeback event in April 30, the AGHRx RediScripts MedSafe at Atlantic General Hospital is available to our community 24 hours a day, 365 days per year.

Last fall, Americans turned in 372 tons (more than 700,000 pounds) of prescription drugs
at more than 4,900 sites operated by the DEA and its state and local law enforcement partners. This brings the total amount of prescription drugs collected by the DEA since the fall of 2010 to more than 15.2 million pounds of medication.

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.

• Unused or expired prescription medications are a public safety issue, leading to accidental poisoning, overdose, and abuse.

• Pharmaceutical drugs can be just as dangerous as street drugs when taken
  without a prescription or a doctor’s supervision.

• The non-medical use of prescription drugs ranks second only to marijuana as the most
  common form of drug abuse in America.

• The majority of teenagers abusing prescription drugs get them from family and
  friends – and the home medicine cabinet.

• Unused prescription drugs thrown in the trash can be retrieved and abused
  or illegally sold. Unused drugs that are flushed contaminate the water supply.
  Proper disposal of unused drugs saves lives and protects the environment.

• Take-back programs and medication disposal vaults are the best way to dispose of old drugs. If a program is not available - take the meds out of their bottles, mix them with something unappealing like used kitty litter or coffee grounds, seal them in a bag or disposable container and throw that away.

In addition to unwanted medication and sharps disposal, free Narcan training will be offered for those interested. This potentially lifesaving medication is available free without a prescription at AGHRx RediScripts Pharmacy.

For more information about the disposal of prescription drugs or about the April 30 Take Back Day event, go to www.DEATakeBack.com or contact a member of your AGHRx Rediscripts Pharmacy at rediscripts@atlanticgeneral.org or 410-641-9241. You may also contact Debbie Smullen, President of Worcester Goes Purple, at www.wocowarriors.org or 410-870-5161 if you are in need of an FDA approved sharps container to dispose of your sharps.