Crime & Safety
LA County Police Agencies Accepting Unwanted, Unused Drugs On Saturday
LA County residents who want to get rid of expired, unused or unwanted drugs have a chance on Saturday to safely discard them.
LOS ANGELES COUNTY -- Los Angeles County residents who want to get rid of expired, unused or unwanted drugs will have an opportunity this weekend to safely discard them at multiple locations during National Drug Take-Back Day.
The effort, organized by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, in partnership with local law enforcement agencies, is intended to underscore the importance of taking commonly abused drugs out of circulation.
Saturday will be the second Take-Back Day of 2023. The first was in April.
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``The drug overdose epidemic in the United States is a clear and present public health, public safety and national security threat,'' according to a DEA statement. ``National Prescription Drug Take Back Day reflects DEA's commitment to Americans' safety and health, encouraging the public to remove unneeded medications from their homes as a measure of preventing medication
misuse and opioid addiction from starting.''
The agency began holding take-backs 13 years ago. Since its inaugural event, 8,650 tons of prescription and non-prescription drugs have been collected at thousands of disposal sites throughout the country, according to officials.
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In 2022, an estimated 111,000 people died from drug overdoses, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Roughly three-quarters of those deaths were from opioid use, principally the synthetic drug fentanyl, officials said.
``Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. continue to rise, as is the number of accidental poisonings,'' the Riverside Police Department said in a statement. ``According to a report published by the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration, a majority of people who misused a prescription medication obtained the medicine from a family member or friend.''
The DEA noted that provisions in the federal Secure & Responsible Drug Disposal Act authorize pharmacies, hospitals and other facilities to serve as collection sites year-round.
In addition to drugs, vaping pens and cartridges will also be accepted at drop-off locations. No questions will be asked of people disposing of medications or other ingestible products.
A list of drop-off sites is available at www.dea.gov/takebackday.
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