Northeast News
April 21, 2011

Kansas City Missouri Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration are offering a safe way to dispose of outdated or unwanted prescription medicines.

As part of the National Prescription Drug Take-back Day, KCPD and DEA are allowing citizens to dispose of their unwanted prescription drugs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 30, at East Patrol, 5301 E. 27th St. The service is free, anonymous and no questions are asked.

The event serves as an opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding homes of potentially dangerous prescription drugs.

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. Flushing medicines down the toilet and throwing them in the trash pose potential safety and health hazards.

Last September, Americans turned in 242,000 pounds – 121 tons – of prescription drugs at nearly 4,100 sites operated by the DEA and more than 3,000 state and local law enforcement partners, including KCPD.

Four days after last fall’s event, Congress passed the Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of 2010, which amends the Controlled Substances Act to allow an “ultimate user” of controlled substance medications to dispose of them by delivering them to entities authorized by the Attorney General to accept them. The drug disposal act also allows the Attorney General to authorize long-term care facilities to dispose of their residents’ controlled substances in certain instances. DEA is drafting regulations to implement the act.