National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is scheduled for Saturday, but people at UCCS can participate one day earlier.
Partnering with the Federal Drug Enforcement Agency, the UCCS Police Department is hosting a disposal site for expired, unwanted and unused prescription drugs from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. April 28 at the Department of Public Safety building. For the convenience of campus community members, the drop-off location will be open from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. April 27.
University Police Sergeant Marc Pino said holding the day-early drop-off would be a good opportunity to serve people while they were still on campus, even though the official day for it is Saturday. Campus police are urging people to clean out their medicine cabinets and bring in potentially harmful pills to dispose of them.
The DEA announcement Pino provided said, “According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, enough prescription painkillers were prescribed in 2010 to medicate every American adult around-the-clock for one month. Often, some of these medicines languish in the home and are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high. More Americans currently abuse prescription drugs than the number of those using cocaine, hallucinogens, heroin, and inhalants combined, according to the 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
“Studies show that the majority of teens who abuse prescription drugs obtain them from family and friends for free, including from the home medicine cabinet. Many Americans simply do not know how to properly dispose of their unused or expired medicine, often flushing it down the toilet or throwing it away. These methods can pose both safety and environmental hazards.”
Public Safety Parking Services Manager Whit Whitfield offered some background for the event in a campus email April 19.
National Prescription Drug Take Back Day addresses a vital public safety and public health issue, he advised. According to the 2009 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health, more than seven million Americans currently abuse prescription drugs. According to the Partnership for a Drug Free America, each day approximately 2,500 teens use prescription drugs to get high for the first time.
Partnering with state and local law enforcement agencies throughout the United States, the DEA conducted National Prescription Drug Take Back Days on Sept. 25, 2010 and April 25, 2011. Nearly 4,000 law enforcement agencies participated, collecting more than 309 tons of pills. The DEA continues to hold the take back days every six months.
For more information on Prescription Drug Take Back Days visit http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback/index.html. Contact Pino with any specific questions about the campus participation at [email protected] or 255-3012.
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