Federal Way police taking back unwanted prescription drugs
Published 5:35 pm Tuesday, September 23, 2014
The Federal Way Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration will give the public its ninth opportunity in four 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 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 27 to Federal Way City Hall at 33328 Eighth Ave. S., Federal Way. Weather permitting, the drop-off site will be located outside for easy drive up access, or it will be conveniently located in the department lobby. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked. (The Drug Enforcement Administration cannot accept liquids or needles or sharps, only pills or patches.)
In the four-year history of Take Back Days, 780,158 pounds (390 tons) of pills were brought to the 6,072 collection sites that the agency and its 4,423 state, local and tribal law enforcement partners set up so the public could discard unwanted, unused and expired prescription drugs from medicine cabinets, bedside tables and kitchen drawers. When added to that collected at previous Take Back events, 4.1 million pounds (2,123 tons) of prescription medications have been removed from circulation.
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, police officials said. 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.
The National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day aims to provide a safe, secure and environmentally responsible means of disposing of prescription drugs, while also educating the general public about the potential for abuse and trafficking of medications.
