Southland residents will have an opportunity next Saturday to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding homes of potentially dangerous prescription drugs.
The Drug Enforcement Agency's second National Prescription Drug Take- Back Day will take place April 30, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at sites throughout the region. The service is free and anonymous, with no questions asked.
Last September, Americans turned in more than 242,000 pounds - or 121 tons - of prescription drugs at nearly 4,100 sites across the country operated by more than 3,000 of the DEA's state and local law enforcement partners.
The agency hopes to collect even more this spring by opening the event to long-term care facilities.
The public can find a nearby collection site by visiting www.dea.gov, clicking on the "Got Drugs?" icon and following the links to a database, where they enter their zip code. More than 120 locations are expected to be available in Los Angeles County.
Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion and abuse.
Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high - more Americans currently abuse prescription drugs than the number of those using cocaine, hallucinogens, and heroin combined, according to the 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from
the home medicine cabinet."The Prescription Drug Take-Back program provides area residents with a safe way to dispose of their unwanted medication," said Timothy J. Landrum, DEA special agent in charge.
"Unused or expired medications are a public safety issue, and can lead to accidental poisoning, overdose and abuse," he said. "That is why we are committed to helping keep homes in our communities safe, by ridding our medicine cabinets of expired, unused and unwanted drugs."
Ehrinn Cummings Diora Baird Adriana Lima Padma Lakshmi Piper Perabo
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