The Ansonia Police Department will participate in a Drug Enforcement Administration prescription drug “Take-Back” even on Saturday Sept. 25.
Citizens are encouraged to bring all expired, unwanted or unused drugs to the Ansonia Rescue Medical Headquarters located on West Main Street between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. This service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.
The nationwide prescription drug “Take-Back” initiative seeks to prevent increased pill abuse and theft.
DEA will be collecting potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs for destruction at sites nationwide on Sept. 25.
“As we know all too well in New England, prescription drug abuse destroys people’s lives. Medication in our homes that is no longer needed become an unnecessary hazard to the ones we love,” said Steve W. Derr, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration for New England, community, public health and law enforcement partnersr. “This is a unique opportunity to dispose of these unwanted medications before they can be abused and destroy someone’s life, result in an accidental overdose or harm our environment.”
This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue.
Many Americans are not aware that medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse.
Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are increasing at alarming rates, 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, many Americans do not know how to properly dispose of their unused medicine, often flushing them down the toilet or throwing them away – both potential safety and health hazards.
“Today we are launching a first-ever National Prescription Drug Take-Back campaign that will provide a safe way for Americans to dispose of their unwanted prescription drugs,” said Michele M. Leonhart, Acting Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration. “This effort symbolizes DEA’s commitment to halting the disturbing rise in addiction caused by their misuse and abuse. Working together with our state and local partners, the medical community, anti-drug coalitions, and a concerned public, we will eliminate a major source of abused prescription drugs, and reduce the hazard they pose to our families and communities in a safe, legal, and environmentally sound way.”
“With this National Prescription Drug Take-Back campaign, we are aggressively reaching out to individuals to encourage them to rid their households of unused prescription drugs that pose a safety hazard and can contribute to prescription drug abuse,” said Acting Deputy Attorney General Gary G. Grindler. “The Department of Justice is committed to doing everything we can to make our communities safer, and this initiative represents a new front in our efforts.”
“Prescription drug abuse is the Nation’s fastest-growing drug problem, and take-back events like this one are an indispensable tool for reducing the threat that the diversion and abuse of these drugs pose to public health,” said Director of National Drug Control Policy Gil Kerlikowske. “The Federal/state/and local collaboration represented in this initiative is key in our national efforts to reduce pharmaceutical drug diversion and abuse.”
Collection sites in every local community can be found by going to www.dea.gov. This site will be continuously updated with new take-back locations.
Other participants in this initiative include the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy; the Partnership for a Drug-Free America; the International Association of Chiefs of Police; the National Association of Attorneys General; the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy; the Federation of State Medical Boards; and the National District Attorneys Association.