What: National Drug Take-Back Day
Where: Loveland Police Department parking lot
When: September 29, 2012 from 10:00am-2:00pm
Questions? Call 962-2229
GOT DRUGS?
On Saturday, September 29, 2012, Loveland Police Department will again partner with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) for the "National Pharmaceutical Take Back Initiative". This event is also called the Drug Take-Back Day. This event focuses on removing potentially dangerous controlled substances from our nation’s medicine cabinets. A national take-back day provides a unified opportunity for the public to surrender expired, unwanted, or unused pharmaceutical controlled substances and other medications to law enforcement officers for destruction.
Many Americans are not aware that medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are increasing at alarming rates, 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 the home medicine cabinet. In addition, many Americans do not know how to properly dispose of their unused medicine, often flushing them down the toilet or throwing them away – both potential safety and health hazards.
The Drug Take-Back event that was held in this past April was a great success. During a four hour period the Loveland Police Department collected 509 pounds of prescription drugs!
Items which cannot be accepted for take back are:
- Needles & Sharps
- Mercury (thermometers)
- Oxygen containers
- Chemotherapy/Radioactive substances
- Pressurized canisters
- Illicit Drugs
The Larimer County Landfill can take needles if you follow their guidelines for disposal. The following is the link: http://www.larimer.org/solidwaste/haz.htm. Search down the page until you see the section called "Sharps (Hypodermic Needles) and Medications".
