Participation Encouraged for Drug Take Back Day October 27

On Saturday, Oct. 27, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the U. S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and local law enforcement agencies will give the public its sixteenth opportunity in eight years to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs. The service is free and anonymous with no questions asked.

Click here to locate the collection site nearest you. Collection sites in North Oaks Health System’s service area include: Target in Hammond, sponsored by the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office; the Walker Police Department; and the Livingston Parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.

“We strongly encourage the community to take part by cleaning out your medicine cabinets and disposing of any prescription drugs at a designated drop-off location near you,” urges North Oaks Clinical Pharmacy Manager Jamie Covington. “Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high – as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to misuse of these drugs. Research shows that the majority of misused and abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends or stolen from the home medicine cabinet.”

The DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day addresses a vital public safety and health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse and abuse. In addition, Americans are now being 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.

In the spring of 2018, Americans turned in nearly 475 tons (949,046 pounds) of prescription drugs at more than 5,800 sites operated by the DEA and almost 4,700 of its state and local law enforcement partners. Overall, in its 15 previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners have taken in almost 10 million pounds — nearly 5,000 tons — of pills.

For more information about the disposal of prescription drugs or about the October 27 Take Back Day event, click here.