Nationwide Prescription Drug Take-Back Day on October 29 | Families

The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office is pleased to partner with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and participate in the National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day scheduled for October 29, 2011.  This is an opportunity for county residents to dispose of old and unwanted prescription drugs.  Three sites will be operating where these drugs can be disposed of free with no questions asked.  The hours of collection will be from 10a.m. to 2p.m.

* Sheriff’s Main Office – 300 Fair Lane, Placerville, CA 95667
* Sheriff’s El Dorado Hills Substation – 4354 Town Center Drive Suite 112, El Dorado Hills, CA 95762
* Buffalo Hill Center- 6049 Front Street, Georgetown, CA 95634
 

Last April, El Dorado County residents turned in 253.8 pounds of prescription drugs at 3 sites in El Dorado County.  This was a large increase from the year before when county residents turned in just over 100 pounds.  The Sheriff’s Office looks forward to another successful Drug Take Back Day this month. 

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.

Source: El Dorado County Sheriff's Department