Get rid of old medicines at National Take Back Day Sept. 29

On Saturday, Sept. 29 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. the Manassas City Police Department will be joining the Prince William County Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to give the public another opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs.

In Manassas, a disposal location will be in place at Prince William Hospital at 8700 Sudley Road.  Other locations include Heathcote Health Center in Haymarket and Sentara Lake Ridge in Woodbridge.  The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

Last April, Americans turned in 276 tons of prescription drugs at more than 5,600 sites operated by the DEA and nearly 4,300 state and local law enforcement partners.  In its four previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners took in over 1.5 million pounds—nearly 775 tons—of pills.\

This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue, according to a news release from the Manassas city police department.  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, the release went on to say. Previous methods for disposing of unused medicines—flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash—have been found to pose potential safety and health hazards.

DEA is drafting regulations to implement the Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of 2010.  Until new regulations are in place, local law enforcement agencies like Manassas city police department, Prince William County police department and the DEA will continue to hold prescription drug take-back events, the release noted..  To search for a nearby collection site go to http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback/.

In addition to disposing old prescriptions properly at events such as the Drug Take-Back, consider the following safety tips for managing your prescriptions:

·      Consider using the same pharmacy to fill all your prescriptions.
·      When seeing a new doctor or specialist, be sure to inform them of all the medicine that is currently prescribed to you.
·      When storing your prescriptions at home, keep them in a cool, dry place where children, pets and visitors cannot have access to them.  Don’t store your medicine where guests can easily see them.
·      Don’t broadcast the types of medicine that are prescribed to you, and be open to the fact in some cases even a member of your family or an employee may be the one trying to steal your medication.
·      Consider securing any narcotic medications such as oxycontin, vicodin or morphine in a locked or secure cabinet to reduce the possibility of theft.

For more information on the National Take-Back Initiative, or for more tips on how to safely manage your prescription drugs, contact the Manassas City Police Department Community Services Section at (703) 257-8064.