Event: Free prescription drug disposal offered by Citrus Heights police

A “no-questions-asked” prescription drug take-back day will be held at the Citrus Heights Police Department on April 29 this year — part of a nationwide effort to reduce drug abuse and avoid safety concerns with flushing old drugs down the toilet or dropping them in the trash. The event is anonymous and free for anyone seeking a way to dispose of out-of-date or unused prescription pills and patches.

The Saturday drop-off event will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the police department, located at 6315 Fountain Square Drive, in Citrus Heights.

In a news release last month, police called the drug take-back day a way to address “a vital public safety and public health issue,” warning that old medicines in home cabinets are “are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse.”

The statement called prescription drug use “alarmingly high” and noted a high number of accidental poisonings from prescription drugs as well. Studies referenced by police indicate that drugs are often obtained from medicine cabinets, or from family and friends.

Participants are asked to dispose of containers at home and bring pills in zip lock bags. Pills can be combined into one bag and patches can be removed from boxes but “must be left in the sealed factory envelope and placed in the zip lock bags with the pills,” police said.

Liquids, needles, and sharps will not be accepted at the event.

The 13th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is promoted by the Drug Enforcement Administration and has resulted in the collection of nearly 7.1 million pounds of drugs at thousands of collection sites from 2010 to 2016, according to data cited by Citrus Heights police.

More information on the drop-off effort can be found online at www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov

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Event info:
2017 Drug Take-Back
When: April 29, 2017
10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Where: Citrus Heights Police Dept.
6315 Fountain Square Drive

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