Riverside Police Collect 26 Pounds of Pills on Prescription Drug Take-Back Day

Submitted by the Riverside Police Department.

On Sept. 26, Riverside police collected 26 pounds of unwanted prescription drugs.

Lt. Bill Gutschick stated, “While the number of Americans who currently abuse prescription drugs dropped from 6.8 million in 2012 to 6.5 million in 2013 (most current data available), that is still more than double the number of those using illicit drugs of abuse like heroin, cocaine and LSD combined.”

According to the 2013 Monitoring the Future Survey, over 28 percent of 12th graders had abused prescription medications in the past 12 months. These statistics magnify the need for proper disposal of unused or expired prescription medications.

The survey of users cited above also found that the majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet.