15th Nationwide Prescription Drug Take Back

The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department in partnership with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will give the public its 15th opportunity in over seven years to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, or unwanted prescription drugs.  Bring your pills for disposal on Saturday, April 28th, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to any one of the below-listed collection sites.  The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.  Last October, the public turned in 912,305 pounds (456 tons) of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs for disposal at more than 5,300 collection sites.  That is almost six tons more than was collected at last spring’s event.  This brings the total amount of prescription drugs collected by DEA since the fall of 2010 to 9,015,668 pounds, or 4,508 tons. This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue.  Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, 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. Also, 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.  “Educating the public on the proper disposal of unused medicines has led to over 4,500 tons of prescription drugs being turned in.  The success of this program is evident; I believe residents are aware of this every six-month service being provided to them and, they plan for it,” said Sheriff John McM ahon. The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department will have seven stations participating with the collection of these unused prescription medications.   They will be open on Saturday, April 28th, from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. and no appointment is necessary.   Some of the participating sites are listed below:   Central Station  909-884-0156 655 East Third Street, San Bernardino Highland Police Department   909-425-9793 26985 East Baseline, Highland Rancho Cucamonga Police Department   909-477-2800 10510 Civic Center Drive, Rancho Cucamonga     We encourage every citizen to look in their homes for any old, unused prescription medication and bring them to one of the listed collection sites for disposal.  Any public inquiries can be made to 1-800-882-9539 or, contact the Sheriff’s Public Affairs Division at 909. 387.3700