SPD: Prescription Drug Take-Back Day – October 24

 

 
SPD

 
On Saturday, October 24, 2020, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. the Sarasota Police Department and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will will provide the public the opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs.
 
Bring your expired, unused and unwanted pills for disposal to the lobby of the Sarasota Police Department, 2099 Adams Lane, Sarasota. (The DEA cannot accept liquids or needles or sharps, only pills or patches.) The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.
 
The Sarasota Police Department will also partner with Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market Pharmacy, located at 3500 North Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, for a drop-off location in addition to the Sarasota Police Department. This drop-off location will be staffed from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.
 
To keep everyone safe, collection sites will follow local COVID-19 guidelines and regulations.
 
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 United States are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs.
 
Last fall, Americans turned in nearly 883,000 pounds of prescription drugs at nearly 6,300 sites operated by the DEA and almost 5,000 of its state and local law enforcement partners. DEA, along with its law enforcement partners, has now collected nearly 6,350 tons of expired, unused, and unwanted prescription medications since the inception of the National Prescription Drug Take Back Initiative in 2010.