Rahall Urges West Virginians to Participate in National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day

***More than 100 Collection Sites in West Virginia will be open 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Saturday, April 26, for drop off***

ATLANTA, GA – April 24, 2014 – (RealEstateRama) — During the Congressional Forum at the National Rx Drug Abuse Summit today, U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) underscored Drug Take Back Day as an effective means for individuals and families to help fight the epidemic of prescription drug abuse by removing from homes and communities expired, unwanted, or unused medications and controlled substances that are prone to abuse and theft.

“The opiate addictions wreaking havoc on too many of our communities often originate in the most unassuming of places: the family medicine cabinet,” said Rahall, co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Prescription Drug Abuse. “Working in partnership with law enforcement, Drug Take-Back Day is one of the simplest, most effective, prevention measures we have on our side. Proactively ridding our homes of unused or unwanted prescription drugs is a small step concerned community members can take to help stem the tide of abuse that we are fighting today in cities and towns across our nation.”

Drug Take-Back Day is sponsored nationwide by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency in coordination with state and local law enforcement to provide the public with a no-questions-asked opportunity to turn in expired, unwanted, or unused pharmaceuticals, controlled substances, and other medications that will be safely removed from communities and destroyed. Citizens can anonymously drop off medications on Saturday, April 26, between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. at any one of the drop-off locations in southern West Virginia.

Prescription drugs left unattended or forgotten in family medicine cabinets are one of the most accessible gateways to opiate 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. In addition, Americans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines—flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash—both pose potential safety and health hazards.

Last October, Americans turned in 324 tons (over 647,000 pounds) of prescription drugs at over 4,114 sites operated by the DEA and its thousands of state and local law enforcement partners. When those results are combined with what was collected during previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners took in over 3.4 million pounds—more than 1,700 tons—of pills.

Attached is a list of Take-Back Day locations in southern West Virginia (as of April 23, 2014) or to search for a location visit the Drug Enforcement Administration Office of Diversion Control website at:

http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback/index.html.