HARRISBURG – The Pennsylvania State Police will accept unwanted, expired and unused prescription drugs Sept. 12, as part of National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.
Take-Back Day is a national initiative, conducted in partnership with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), aimed at encouraging the public to dispose of expired, unused or unwanted prescription drugs that are prone to abuse and theft.
From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., unwanted prescription medications may be dropped off at select state police stations. No personal information is required for drop-off. To find a drop-off location, visit the state police Web site.
The National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day aims to provide a safe, secure, and environmentally responsible means of disposing of prescription drugs, while also educating the general public about the potential for abuse and trafficking of medications.
This is important because the non-medical use of controlled substance (CS) medications is at an all-time high, with 6.8 million Americans reporting having abused prescription drugs in 2012, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) released in 2013.
That same study revealed more than 54 percent of people who abuse prescription pain relievers got them through friends or relatives, a statistic that includes raiding the family medicine cabinet.
During the eighth National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day on April 26, 2014, 780,158 pounds of expired and unwanted medications were turned in for safe and proper disposal nationwide.
For more information about the Pennsylvania State Police, visit www.psp.pa.gov.