The Commerce City Police Department, in conjunction with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), will be participating in the first-ever ‘National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day’ program.The nationwide prescription drug “Take-Back” initiative was created to address the issue of increased pill abuse and theft. The DEA will be collecting potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs for destruction. These drugs can be a vital public safety and public health issue. Many Americans are not aware that medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are increasing at alarming rates, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses because of these drugs.
“Prescription drug abuse is the Nation’s fastest-growing drug problem, and take-back events like this one are an indispensable tool for reducing the threat that the diversion and abuse of these drugs pose to public health,” said Director of National Drug Control Policy Gil Kerlikowske.
Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. In addition, many Americans do not know how to properly dispose of their unused medicines, often flushing them down the toilet or throwing them away – both potential safety and health hazards.
The Commerce City Police Department will be one of several locations in the Denver-metro area. The event will be from 10 am to 2 pm at the Commerce City Civic Center, 7887 E. 60th Ave in Commerce City, on Saturday, Sept. 25th, 2010. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.
The program will gladly accept any prescription or over-the-counter drugs. Items such as needles, mercury thermometers, oxygen containers, chemotherapy and radioactive substances, pressurized canisters, and illicit drugs cannot be accepted by the program.
For information on other locations in the metro area, please visit the Drug Enforcement Administration website at www.dea.gov
