April 30, 2011 was another chance to dump any old medicines in your medicine cabinet and your kitchen drawers. A chance to look for unused and unwanted and unnecessary prescriptions and take them to where they can be safely disposed of.
Why? Well, first of all because having them around increases the risk that someone visiting your home will be tempted to take them and sell them to others. It is an item that burglars will steal if they break into your home – obviously they aren’t going to know if there are any there or not beforehand, unless they’ve been into your home. But you don’t want to provide them with anything and encourage such activity, and contribute to the messing up of other peoples’ lives who are addicted to them either. It’s also important to get rid of expired prescriptions, because they do change as time passes, and you don’t want to take old ones either purposely or accidentally.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in Washington DC chose the day and asked for all their community partners to establish drop off points for people to bring their medications to. It’s important to note that it is NOT considered a good idea to just throw them into the trash which goes to a landfill or flush them down the toilet, which goes into the water system.
Here in Vermont, the Windsor County Sheriff’s Association had drop off points throughout the county. This program was last in play in September. Back then, throughout the United States people turned in over 242,000 pounds – that’s 121 tons – of prescription drugs. 4100 sites were set up and 3,000 law enforcement officials collected it all. They expect that this Spring’s collection will be as large or even larger, since word has gotten around over a longer period of time.
There’s an incredibly high rate of prescription abuse going on in the USA, with more abusers in this category than those using cocaine, heroin, and hallucinogens. What is legal for those who need it has become an addiction for those who do not.
So, do what you can to make sure your home is not full of potentially harmful prescription drugs? Well don’t worry if you missed the turn-in. Encourage your neighbors and friends and family to do the same. You can visit www.dea.gov and click on “Got drugs” and enter your zip code to find out where you can deliver yours.
