Prescription Drug Take-back Day on September 26

The Brentwood Police Department also is holding a National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day from 10 a.m.to 2 p.m on Saturday, September 26 at the Brentwood Municipal Center.

ArkLaTex residents wanting to get rid of their unused or expired prescription drugs and over-the-counter medications can do so on Saturday.Several agencies around the ArkLaTex are holding drug take back events. Please remember when you no longer need a medication; bring it to a take back event or to a permanent drop box. These are medicines that were languishing in home cabinets, highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Thanks to a donation of red barrels from the Livingston County Community Alliance, MSP posts everywhere are now prescription drop off points, where you can dispose of old medications.

The program is anonymous and those dropping off medications will not asked for their name or address, officials said. Non-medical prescription drug use rates second highest amongst all youth illicit drug users.

Last September, Americans turned in 309 tons (over 617,000 pounds) of prescription drugs at almost 5,500 sites operated by the DEA and more than 4,000 of its state and local law enforcement partners. When combined with all the previous eight editions, they gathered around 2,400 tons of pills overall, to a total of 4.82 million pounds of prescription drugs taken back under the watchful eyes of the DEA. Studies show that many abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. The traditional methods of disposing of unused medicines-like flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash-pose potential safety and health hazards.

For more information, call Drug Free Highlands at 382-2138.