Got Drugs?
The DEA National Drug Take Back Day is just around the corner on September 27, 2014. The initiative provides a safe, convenient, and responsible way to dispose of old or leftover prescription drugs, preventing them from being flushed into local waterways and educating the general public about the potential for medication abuse.
Take-Back Days are presently needed because the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) as originally written did not provide a way for patients, caregivers, and pet owners to dispose of such CS medications as painkillers, sedatives, and stimulants like ADHD drugs. People were flushing their old meds down the toilet or throwing them in the trash.
The sites below are the closest to the residents within Heidelberg Township, Lehigh County and will be available to dispose of medicines on September 27, 2014 from 10 am to 2 pm.
| COLLECTION SITE | ADDRESS | |
|---|---|---|
| Upper Macungie Township Police Department | 37 Grim Road Breinigsville, PA 18031 | Map |
| Slatington Police Department | 125 S. Walnut St. Slatington, PA 18080 | Map |
Click here to search for other collection sites.
From the Pennsylvania Source Water Protection Program:
Last April, Americans turned in 390 tons (over 780,000 pounds) of prescription drugs at nearly 6,100 sites operated by the DEA and more than 4,400 of its state and local law enforcement partners. When those results are combined with what was collected in its eight previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners have taken in over 4.1 million pounds—more than 2,100 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.
DEA is in the process of approving new regulations that implement the Safe and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of 2010, which amends the Controlled Substances Act to allow an “ultimate user” (that is, a patient or their family member or pet owner) 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.