Prescription Drugs Presentation and Disposal Event Coming in September

A month ago, we mentioned that a was forthcoming, thanks to the work of the Foothills Healthy Community Coalition, which is an arm of the .

Now we have some confirmed dates for you:

• Wednesday, Sept. 19: A presentation on prescription drug abuse starts at 12:30 p.m. at the . (Ed note: An earlier time of 11 a.m. was incorrect.)
• Saturday, Sept. 29: A DEA Take Back Day takes place at the from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in which citizens can drop off their excess prescription drugs for proper disposal. Note this event is intended for disposal of drug products only; organizers cannot take back used syringes or other "sharps."

Beyond these dates, the Buckley Police station at 132 S Cedar St. in Buckley has a permanent installation for proper drug disposal, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Why the urgency? The Washington State Attorney General's office describes prescription drug abuse as an epidemic in Washington state. It reports that there are more deaths annually from prescription drug abuse than from meth, cocaine, and heroine combined. 

According to the state Department of Health's Healthy Youth Survey, about 8 percent of 12th graders used prescription pain medications to get high in the  30 days before they were surveyed in 2010.

Where are they getting the drugs? The Attorney General's Office reports that more than 47 percent of teens were getting the drugs from their friends for free; about 10 percent buy them from friends; and another 10 percent taken them from friends without asking.

Heather Hogan, who leads the Foothills Healthy Community Coalition (FHCC), said often young people find the drugs at home from family members who might have lost track of a prescription when they no longer need to take it. They bring them to "pharm parties" where the pills are dumped into a bowl and the teens experiment at will, not knowing what they're taking or what might happen.

So do you make a point of disposing of your leftover prescription drugs when you no longer need them? Or are they sitting in your medicine cabinet and after a while, you've forgotten what was in there?