Agencies Offer Residents Safe Place to Drop Unwanted Drugs

Riverside County residents who want to get rid of expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs can discard them Saturday at a variety of locations during National Drug Take-Back Day.

The effort, now in its fifth year, is organized by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to highlight the importance of taking commonly abused drugs out of circulation.

“Please clean out your medicine cabinet, and make your home safe from drug theft and abuse,” said DEA Director Chuck Rosenberg.

The agency began sponsoring take-backs to provide the public with alternatives to flushing expired or unwanted pills down the toilet. According to the DEA, 4.8 million pounds -- more than 2,400 tons -- of prescription drugs have been collected at thousands of disposal sites throughout the country.

Provisions in the federal Secure & Responsible Drug Disposal Act also authorize pharmacies, hospitals and other facilities to serve as routine collection sites.

County residents are being asked to drop off unwanted pills at the following sites between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday:

• Hemet Home Instead Senior Care, 414 S. Palm St.;
• Murrieta Police Department, 2 Town Square;
• sheriff’s Blythe station, 260 N. Spring St.;
• sheriff’s Cabazon station, 50290 Main St.;
• sheriff’s Hemet station, 43950 Acacia Ave.;
• sheriff’s Jurupa Valley station, 7477 Mission Blvd.;
• sheriff’s Lake Elsinore station, 333 Limited Ave.;
• sheriff’s Moreno Valley station, 22850 Calle San Juan De Los Lagos;
• sheriff’s Southwest station, 30755 Auld Road, Murrieta; and
• sheriff’s Thermal Station, 86625 Airport Blvd.

Additional agencies are expected to announce participation in the program before week’s end.

No questions will be asked of people disposing of pills or other medications, according to organizers. More information is available at http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback/

--City News Service, Patch file photo