Drug Take-Back set for Saturday

Residents who want to responsibly dispose of unwanted medication will get a chance Saturday when the Charleston County Sheriff and the Drug Enforcement Agency hold a drug take-back day.

The event is set for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on September 29 at the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office at 3505 Pinehaven Drive, North Charleston. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

The Drug Take-Back program is a national effort to help residents dispose of drugs that could fall into the wrong hands.

So far, the effort has been a big success. The last take-back day in April netted 132 pounds of unwanted prescription drugs locally.

Across the country in April, Americans turned in 552,161 pounds—276 tons—of prescription drugs at over 5,600 sites operated by the DEA and nearly 4,300 state and local law enforcement partners.

In its four previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners took in over 1.5 million pounds—nearly 775 tons—of pills.  In April 2012 a total of 276 tons were collected nationally and 3,763 pounds were collected in South Carolina.

Last October, Americans turned in 377,080 pounds—188.5 tons—of prescription drugs at more than 5,300 sites operated by the DEA and nearly 4,000 state and local law enforcement partners. In its three previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners took in almost a million pounds—nearly 500 tons—of pills.

Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse, according to the DEA. 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.