Fenton Police Department Taking Back Unwanted Prescription Drugs

On April 30 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. the and the Drug
Enforcement Administration (DEA) will give the public another opportunity to
prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous
expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs. Bring your medications for
disposal to the Police Department at 311 S. Leroy St., Fenton. The service is
free and anonymous, no questions asked.

Last September, Americans turned in 242,000 pounds—121 tons—of
prescription drugs at nearly 4,100 sites operated by the DEA and more than
3,000 state and local law enforcement partners.

This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines
that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and
abuse. 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.

Four days after last fall’s event, Congress passed the Secure and Responsible
Drug Disposal Act of 2010, which amends the Controlled Substances Act to allow
an “ultimate user” of controlled substance medications to dispose of them by
delivering them to entities authorized by the Attorney General to accept them.
The Act also allows the Attorney General to authorize long term care facilities to
dispose of their residents’ controlled substances in certain instances. DEA has
begun drafting regulations to implement the Act.