SAFE Encourages Community to Dispose Unwanted Prescription Meds

Every year, SAFE, The City of Glen Cove Mayor’s office, Glen Cove Police Department and Glen Cove EMS partner on an event entitled “Shed Your Med’s.” This prevention program follows the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Take Back Day – a day that addresses abuse of controlled prescription drugs.

This year’s "Shed Your Med’s” event will take place on Saturday, May 5th from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Glen Cove Police Department.

Abuse of prescription medication has become a crucial public safety and public health issue. According to the 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 6.4 million Americans abused controlled prescription drugs. The study shows that a majority of abused prescription drugs were obtained from family and friends, often from the home medicine cabinet.

The DEA’s Take Back Day events provide an opportunity for Americans to prevent drug addiction and overdose deaths. On September 8, 2014, the (DEA) made available for public view a final rule regarding the disposal of pharmaceutical controlled substances in accordance with the Controlled Substance Act (CSA) to give the DEA authority to promulgate new regulations, within the framework of the CSA, that will allow ultimate users to deliver unused pharmaceutical controlled substances to appropriate entities for disposal in a safe and effective manner. The goal of the Disposal Act is to encourage public and private entities to develop a variety of methods of collection and disposal in a secure, convenient, and responsible manner. The CSA defines an “ultimate user” as “a person who has lawfully obtained, and who possesses, a controlled substance for his own use or for the use of a member of his household or for an animal owned by him or a member of his household.”

For more Information about the DEA please visit https://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/fact_sheets/disposal_pu....

The SAFE Glen Cove Coalition is conducting an opioid prevention awareness campaign entitled "Keeping Glen Cove SAFE" to educate and update the community regarding opioid use and its consequences. For information about the Coalition visit us at: www.safeglencove.org, or follow us on: www.facebook.com/safeglencovecoalition.