MSP taking back prescription drugs

From the Michigan State Police:

The Michigan State Police will partner with the Drug Enforcement Administration and other local law enforcement agencies for National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day to provide a venue for citizens to dispose of unwanted and unused prescription drugs.

All 29 MSP posts statewide will participate in the one-day ‘Take Back’ effort between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday, April 27, by serving as drop-off points for citizens to discard expired, unused and unwanted medications for destruction. The service is free and anonymous with no questions asked.

Drop-off points in the Upper Peninsula include the Calumet Post, the Gladstone Post, the Iron Mountain Post, the Negaunee Post, the St. Ignace Post, the Sault Ste. Marie Post and the Wakefield Post.

However, there are also many other sites.

The other U.P. collection sites include:

— the Escanaba Department of Public Safety

— the Hannahville Tribal Police Department

— the Houghton County Sheriff’s Department in Houghton

— the Ishpeming Police Department

— the Schoolcraft County Sheriff’s Department in Manistique

— the Marquette Police Department

— the Munising Police Department

— the Ontonagon County Sheriff’s Department in Ontonagon

— the Sault Ste. Marie Police Department

The DEA has a searchable list of nationwide collection sites on its website.

“It is important for Michigan residents to know that there is a safe and confidential way to dispose of unwanted prescription drugs,” said Col. Kriste Kibbey Etue, director of the MSP. “Take Back Day allows them to do so and helps prevent the potential hazards of the misuse of these drugs.”

National Prescription Drug Take Back Day addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, enough prescription painkillers were prescribed in 2010 to medicate every American adult around-the-clock for one month. Often, some of these medicines languish in the home and are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high–more Americans currently abuse prescription drugs than the number of those using cocaine, hallucinogens, heroin, and inhalants combined, according to the 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Studies show that the majority of teens who abuse prescription drugs obtain them from family and friends for free, including from the home medicine cabinet.