SHERMAN COUNTY SHERIFF TAKING BACK UNWANTED PRESCRIPTION DRUGS
April 26 at the Sheriff’s Office
Goodland Kansas– On April 26 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sheriff Burton Pianalto, Goodland Elks and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will give the public an opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs. Bring your pills for disposal to Sherman County Sheriff’s Office at 813 Broadway, Goodland Kansas. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.
Sheriff Burton Pianalto and the Goodland Elks will be in the Sheriff’s Office parking lot to accept your free and anonymous drop off. Sheriff Pianalto says “It is important to keep the drugs out of the hand of the Youth and individuals that may sell these drugs”. You can contact the Sheriff’s Office if you have any questions at 785-890-4835
Last October, Americans turned in 324 tons (over 647,000 pounds) of prescription drugs at over 4,114 sites operated by the DEA and its thousands of state and local law enforcement partners. When those results are combined with what was collected in its seven previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners have taken in over 3.4 million pounds—more than 1,700 tons—of pills.
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. 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.
DEA is in the process of approving new regulations that implement the Safe and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of 2010, which amends the Controlled Substances Act to allow an “ultimate user” (that is, a patient or their family member or pet owner) of controlled substance medications to dispose of them by delivering them to entities authorized by the Attorney General to accept them. The Act also allows the Attorney General to authorize long term care facilities to dispose of their residents’ controlled substances in certain instances.