On Saturday, Oct. 22, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Danville Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will give citizens the opportunity to dispose of potentially dangerous expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs stored in their homes.
Bring your medications for disposal to the parking lot of KARE Pharmacy at 411 Park Ave. Police officers will be present to collect pills and patches with no questions asked. The service is free. The DEA does not accept liquids and needles or sharps.
The drug take-back event is sponsored by the DEA and supported locally by the Regional Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention Inc. and KARE Pharmacy. The Danville Police Department is participating for the sixth year.
For more information about the disposal of prescription drugs, go to the DEA website – www.dea.gov.
The police department is working in partnership with the Danville Sheriff’s Office, Pittsylvania County Sheriff’s Office, Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control and Virginia State Police. Take back events also are being held at three locations in the county: Food Lion parking lot at the Tuscarora Shopping Center, the Sheriff’s Office at 21 North Main St. in Chatham, and the Food Lion Shopping Center parking lot on Vaden Street in Gretna.
The drug take-back 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.