Saturday, April 28, marks the DEA’s 15th annual National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., NH residents are urged to dispose of unused prescription drugs at designated locations across the state. Collection sites provide a safe, convenient and responsible means for disposing of prescription drugs, while also educating the public about the potential for misuse of medications. Locations will only accept pills or patches and the service is free and anonymous.
"The DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day addresses a vital public safety and health issue," says Lisabritt Solsky, executive director of Well Sense Health Plan in Manchester. "Not only do most people who misuse prescription drugs obtain them from family and friends, but medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse and abuse. Our goal is to provide an opportunity for people to properly dispose of dangerous prescription drugs so they will no longer pose a risk at home.”
Rates of prescription drug misuse in the U.S. are high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 6.4 million Americans misused controlled prescription drugs.
As part of the effort to help curb the opioid epidemic in NH, Well Sense Health Plan has created a map of local methadone clinics and Safe Stations, which are located at fire stations to help those seeking treatment for substance use disorders. The maps will be distributed to local hospitals, police stations, and community organizations, including some of the National Prescription Drug Take Back Day collection sites.
“Unused and expired prescription medicines are a serious issue that can result in overdoses, addiction, misuse and environmental pollution,” says Solsky. “At Well Sense, we want to bring awareness to National Prescription Drug Take Back Day to not only help educate our community about the realities of prescription drug misuse, but also to help those people struggling with substance use disorders find Safe Stations and other connections to recovery such as medication assisted treatment to take that first critical step.”
As part of the most recent National Prescription Drug Take Back Day held on Oct. 28, 2017, Americans turned in 456 tons (912,000 pounds) of prescription drugs at more than 5,300 sites operated by the DEA and thousands of its state and local law enforcement partners. In total, over the past 14 National Prescription Drug Take Back Day events, the DEA and its partners have taken in more than 9 million pounds of pills—more than 4,500 tons.
For more information about National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on April 28, or about how to safely dispose of prescription drugs, visit www.DEATakeBack.com
Current Issue - April 2024