On Saturday, law enforcement across the county participated in the National Drug Take Back Initiative. The program was partnered with METRICH Drug Task Force and the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency). The National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day aims to provide a safe, convenient, and responsible means of disposing of prescription drugs, while also educating the general public about the potential for abuse of medications.
The Crestline Police Department collected 58 pounds of potentially dangerous, expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs and turned them over to the DEA to be properly destroyed. The department thanks the citizens that participated in this program for helping keep our community safe. Taking advantage of this worthy program provides an opportunity for the public to surrender expired, unwanted, or unused pharmaceutical controlled substances and other medications for destruction. These drugs are a potential source of supply for illegal use and an unacceptable risk to public health and safety from accidental poisonings and groundwater contamination.
With the drug epidemic devastating families and communities across our state, we must work together to remove unused prescription drugs from circulation. Taking prescription drugs in a way that hasn’t been recommended by a doctor can be more dangerous than people think. In fact, it’s drug abuse, and it’s just as illegal as taking street drugs. Expired, unwanted, or unused prescription drugs need to be collected and destroyed. This program will also reduce the environmental hazards associated with the improper disposal of unused prescription drugs.
A drug drop box, located in the breezeway between the Crestline Police and Fire Departments at the Crestline Village Administrative Offices building, is available year round to the village citizens and even non-residences of Crestline, Ohio. Permission is not required to dispose of unwanted or expired prescription drugs. However, the following items are not allowed to be disposed of in the drug drop box: syringes, creams, and liquids.
The Crawford County Sheriff’s Office and METRICH also participated in the Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, collecting expired or unwanted prescription drugs.
“We had a great turn out and collected 76 pounds of prescription medications,” said Crawford County Sheriff Scott Kent.
Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to 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.
Kent said he wants to thank the residents for participating in the event and for doing their part in making the community safe. A drop box is also located in the lobby of the Sheriff’s Office and is available to the public year round for safe prescription medication disposal.
