Northeast News
March 26, 2013

If you have unwanted prescription drugs that you need to dispose of, you can get rid of them for free during the April 27 National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day sponsored by Kansas City Police Department’s Central Patrol, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Main Street Corridor Development Corporation/Main Street Community Improvement District.

The service is anonymous and no questions will be asked.

Central Patrol Community Interaction Officer Jim Schriever said the drug take-back days have been successful in the past. During the past five Kansas City drug take-back events, more than 4,000 pounds of medications have been collected. That’s more than two tons’ worth that were environmentally incinerated and were not illegally used, misused, sold on the streets or flushed down the toilet or tossed in the trash, which pollutes our drinking water, rivers, streams and environment.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, nearly half (47 percent) of teens who use prescription drugs say they get them for free from a relative or friend. Ten percent say they buy pain relievers from a friend or relative, and another 10 percent say they took the drugs without asking.

More than three in five (62 percent or 14.6 million) teens say prescription pain relievers are easy to get from parents’ medicine cabinets; half of teens (11.9 million) say prescription pain relievers are easily accessible through other people’s prescriptions; and 52 percent or 12.3 million say prescription pain relievers are “available everywhere.”

The April 27 Prescription Drug Take-Back Day will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the MainCor parking lot, 3215 Main St., Kansas City, Mo.