IBP Sponsors Safe Prescription Drug Disposal in Warsaw
On Saturday, Sept. 27 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Hoosiers will have the opportunity to dispose of their expired or unwanted prescription drugs. The Indiana Board of Pharmacy and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will sponsor five locations throughout Indiana as part of National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. The service is free and anonymous for all participants.
“The misuse of prescription opioids are killing Americans at more than five times the rate that heroin is, according to the most recent numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” said Nicholas Rhoad, Executive Director of the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency, which oversees the Indiana Board of Pharmacy. “Part of the problem is over prescribing drugs to patients and the other is the ease of access for people to take left over prescriptions from home medicine cabinets that aren’t prescribed to them. We are working with the DEA and local authorities to raise awareness for proper prescription drug disposal as a way to make Indiana a safer, healthier state.”
National Prescription Drug Take Back Day provides a safe, convenient and responsible means for the general public to dispose of prescription drugs, while also helping to educate communities about the potential for abuse. It has been documented that prescription drugs that languish in medicine cabinets create a public health and safety concern because they are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse and abuse.
According to the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high as almost twice as many Americans (6.8 million) currently abuse prescription drugs than the number of those abusing cocaine, hallucinogens, heroin and inhalants combined. Most studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends.
Over the last four years, Take Back Days have led to 780,158 pounds of pills being safely disposed of at 6,072 collection sites across the country.
“The DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Back events provide an obviously needed and valued service to the public, while also reducing prescription drug abuse and trafficking,” said DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart.
Visit www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback/index.html or call 1-800-882-9539 to find a nearby collection site, in addition to the ones being sponsored by the Indiana Board of Pharmacy on Sept. 27.
National Prescription Drug Take Back Day locations:
– Marsh Grocery Store, 6965 W. 38th St. in Indianapolis
– Marsh Grocery Store, 14450 Mundy Dr. (SR 37 and 146th St.) in Noblesville
– Medicap Pharmacy, 1588 N. State St. in Greenfield
– Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department Parking Lot, 221 W. Main St. in Warsaw
– Indiana University Northwest School of Nursing, 3400 Broadway in Gary