Drug take back set for April 29

The Braidwood Police Department and the Braidwood Area Healthy Communities Coalition (BAHCC) are teaming up for a drug-takeback event later this month.

The city will host a drug take-back event at the police station, 141 W. Main St.,  on Saturday, April 29, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.

Residents can turn in unused or expired medication for safe disposal during those hours.

The event is part of a national effort to remove dangerous unused prescription drugs from medicine cabinets, led by the Drug Enforcement Administration. The DEA reinstated the national program in 2015, to give folks a way to dispose of their unused, unwanted, or expired prescription drugs that are highly susceptible to diversion and misuse.

Since then, three nation-wide events have been held, each year in October and April.

Last October, the public turned in 731,269 pounds — almost 366 tons — of medication to DEA and more than 4,000 community partners at almost 5,200 collection sites nationwide. Over the life of the program, 7.1 million pounds (more than 3,500 tons) of prescription drugs have been removed from medicine cabinets, kitchen drawers, and nightstands by citizens around the country.

Only pills and other solids, like patches, will be accepted. The public should not bring liquids, needles or other sharps to take back sites.

Drug overdoses are now the leading cause of injury-related death in the United States, eclipsing deaths from motor vehicle crashes or firearms. The removal from homes of unwanted prescription pills that can be abused, stolen or resold is an easy way to help fight the epidemic of substance abuse and addiction.

More information on the program, as well as fact sheets on drug use and abuse in the U.S., can be found on the DEA’s website at http://dea.gov.