Unwanted Prescriptions Can be Turned in Saturday

Elk Grove Police and law enforcement agencies across the country are urging residents to turn in old and unwanted prescription drugs this weekend.

National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, organized by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, is being held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. Locally, Elk Grove residents can bring pills, tablets and capsules to the police department, 8380 Laguna Palms Way. Needles and other sharps won't be accepted.

The full press release follows:

ELK GROVE PD TAKING BACK UNWANTED PRESCRIPTION DRUGS ON SEPTEMBER 29th 

ELK GROVE, CA – On September 29th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. the Elk Grove Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will give the public another opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs.  Please remove all pills, tablets and capsules from their packaging and consolidate them into one bag before bringing them to 8380 Laguna Palms Way for disposal (needles, auto injectors, or other sharps will not be accepted).  The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked. 

Last April, Americans turned in 552,161 pounds—276 tons—of prescription drugs at over 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.  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. 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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