SALINE CO., Ill.—The Saline County Sheriff’s Office will be participating in another round of the Prescription Drug Take Back program. The event is scheduled for this Saturday, September 27, 2014 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.
This is the ninth round over the past four years and is designed to prevent prescription pill abuse and theft, as well as ridding homes of potentially dangerous, unused and unwanted prescription drugs.
Drop off your pills for disposal at the Saline County Courthouse Parking Lot (10 East Poplar Street/Harrisburg). The service is free and anonymous.
Last April, over 780,000 pounds or 390 tons of prescription drugs at 6,100 sites operated by the DEA and more than 4,400 of its state and local enforcement partners. When those results are combined with what was collected in its previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners have taken in over 4.1 million pounds or more than 2100 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 of disposal of unused medicines, flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash, both pose potential safety and health hazards.