National Pill Take Back Day
Cyndi Wysong
Below is the article that appeared in today’s Daytona News Journal about the National Drug Take Back Day – this Saturday, October 26, 2013.
NATIONAL PILL TAKE BACK
Volusia-Flager law enforcement joins national effort to collect prescription drugs
By Mark I. Johnson; mark.j...@news-jrnl.com
Published: Tuesday, October 22, 2013 at 4:19 p.m.
If you’ve got a medicine cabinet full of old and unwanted prescription drugs and are looking for a way to safely dispose of them, Saturday is the day to do it.
VOLUSIA
COUNTY
New Smyrna
Beach Police: 246 Industrial Park Ave.
Ponce Inlet Police: 4301 S. Peninsula Drive
Holly Hill Police: 1065 Ridgewood Ave.
Edgewater Police: 135 E. Park Ave.
Port Orange Police:
4545 Clyde Morris Blvd.
South Daytona Police: 1672 S, Ridgewood Ave.
Daytona Beach
Shores Public Safety: 3050 S. Atlantic Ave.
Orange
City Police: 207 N. Holly Ave.
DeLand Police: CVS Pharmacy, 2497 S. Woodland, Blvd.
Daytona Beach Police sites:
129 Valor Blvd.
CVS Pharmacy, 1350 Beville Road
Beachside Precinct, 510 Harvey Street.
Volusia County Sheriff’s sites:
1706 S. Woodland Blvd., DeLand
1691 Providence Blvd., Deltona
94 S. U.S. 17-92, DeBary
999 Third St., Holly Hill
101 E. Canal St., New
Smyrna
Beach
FLAGLER
COUNTY
Flagler County Sheriff’s: City Market Place, 160 Cypress Point Parkway, Suite C-107, Palm Coast
Palm Coast
Town Center
Shopping Plaza: parking lot,
800 Belle Terre Parkway,
Palm
Coast
Bunnell Police: 200 S. Church St., Bunnell
Bell Terre
Crossing Shopping
Plaza: parking lot,
4950 Belle Terre Parkway,
Palm Coast
Palm Harbor
Shopping Plaza: parking lot,
298 Palm Coast Parkway NE,
Palm
Coast
Flagler Beach Police:
204 S. Flagler Ave.,
Flagler
Beach
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is joining forces with local law enforcement for its seventh national prescription pill “take back” day from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
The take-back operation provides people a way to get rid of expired and unused medications in a safe and environmentally friendly way. “Actually, this is a public safety event,” said Mia Ro, DEA Miami spokeswoman. “To ensure these pills don’t get into the wrong hands.” Ro said the twice-yearly event — once in the spring and once in the fall — has proven extremely successful in preventing the unused medications from being diverted, misused or abused as well being a source of accidental poisonings and overdoses.
She said last April, the DEA and its partners collected and disposed of 13 tons of unwanted pills throughout Florida and in the three years the program has been in existence; 45 tons were destroyed statewide.
“We usually do pretty well,” New Smyrna Beach Police Department spokesman Sgt. Eugene Griffith said of his agency’s collection efforts, although he could not provide specific figures on how many pounds of drugs were collected in April.
The program works at departments both large and small.
“It is very successful especially for our residents,” said Lt. Max Binz of the Ponce Inlet Police Department. “We have done it every year.” Also participating in the take back are the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office and the Bunnell and Flagler Beach police departments. Flagler Sheriff’s spokesman Cmdr. Bob Weber said residents can drive up to a drop-off site and empty unwanted medication into the collection box and drive off, with no personal information required. The drugs will then be disposed of in a way that will not contaminate local landfills or water supplies.
But not all medications or medical supplies are welcomed. “Hypodermic needles and syringes will not be accepted,” Weber said.
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