| HEARD COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE TAKING BACK UNWANTED PRESCRIPTION DRUGS SEPTEMBER 29 AT THE HEARD COUNTY SHERIFF’ S OFFICE [FRANKLIN, GA] – On September 29 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. the Heard County Sheriff’s Office 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. Bring your medications for disposal to the Heard County Sheriff’s Office located at 11820 Hwy. 100, North. 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. Four days after the first event, Congress passed the Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of 2010, which amends the Controlled Substances Act to allow an “ultimate user” of controlled substance medications to dispose of them by delivering them to entities authorized by the Attorney General to accept them. The Act also allows the Attorney General to authorize long term care facilities to dispose of their residents’ controlled substances in certain instances. DEA is drafting regulations to implement the Act. Until new regulations are in place, local law enforcement agencies like [agency] and the DEA will continue to hold prescription drug take-back events every few months. “I strongly urge everyone to check their medicine cabinets and to participate in this prescription drug disposal event. It is common for us to take a few pills from a prescription and when we feel better we stop the medicine and just put the bottle in a cabinet or drawer and not think anything else about it” stated Heard County Sheriff Ross Henry. “This event is an easy and safe way to dispose of these drugs so that they don’t end up in the wrong hands. So, please take a few minutes to check your home for any unused prescription pills and drop them by the Heard County Sheriff’s Office,” added Sheriff Henry. |
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