Left-over prescription drug collection program launched
by Duane Williams, KLCB-KTNY Radio
November 1, 2012
Leftover and unwanted medications sitting in your home can put families and communities at risk for prescription drug abuse, diversion, and unintentional poisoning.
The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office has launched a permanent Prescription Drug drop-off effort as part of its wider plan to reduce prescription drug abuse in Lincoln County.
MedReturn Drug Collection Units, obtained through Montana Department of Justice’s Operation Medicine Cabinet Montana have been placed in Libby and Troy, and Eureka in the near future, to provide a safe, easy to use, always available, community drug collection process.
Lincoln County Sheriff Roby Bowe, says prescription drug abuse is on the rise in Lincoln County and the potential for harm is very real.
According to the 2011 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), more than six million Americans abuse prescription drugs. That same study revealed more than 70 percent of people abusing prescription pain relievers got them through friends or relatives, a statistic that includes raiding the family medicine cabinet.
Lincoln County residents may take expired or unwanted medications to be disposed of to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office or to Troy Dispatch.
Participants are encouraged to remove or blackout any personal information on the containers. Drop-offs are confidential and free of charge.
The following items cannot be accepted: sharps/needles, chemo/radioactive drugs, creams, liquids, or other non-pharmaceutical waste.
______________________________________________
By Duane Williams, KLCB-KTNY Radio, e-mail: klcb@frontiernet.net.
|
