National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day collection set at UD

11:36 a.m., March 27, 2012--The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's fourth National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, during which community members are encouraged to turn in unused or expired medications and vitamins, will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, April 28, at the University of Delaware Public Safety building, 413 Academy St., in Newark.

There will be free parking at the Perkins Student Center garage for drop off of unused, unwanted or expired medication -- pills, vitamins, liquids, ointments, syringes and pet medications, but no aerosols or inhalants.

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The campus collection is being held by the Drug Enforcement Administration in partnership with UD's Department of Public Safety and the Center for Drug and Alcohol Studies.

DEA is coordinating the collaborative effort, which is focused on removing potentially dangerous controlled substances from the nation's medicine cabinets. The national take-back day will provide a unified opportunity for the public to surrender expired, unwanted or unused pharmaceutical controlled substances and other medications to law enforcement officers for destruction in a safe way.

The effort will bring national focus to the issue of pharmaceutical controlled substance abuse, and the program also provides an opportunity for law enforcement, prevention, treatment and the business community to collaborate and establish a safe collection site for all Americans, regardless of where they reside.

University/Schools Alliance (USA) is a substance abuse prevention coalition at the UD Center for Drug and Alcohol Studies, and USA will co-host the event on campus.

The Center for Drug and Alcohol Studies is responsible for the surveys that are given each year to fifth, eighth and 11th graders in Delaware public schools. 

From those surveys come the statistics showing that too many youth are invading the medicine cabinets in their own homes, or the medicine cabinets of family and friends, according to Mary Perno, USA Project coordinator in the center, who added that it is “not a good idea to flush medicine down toilet or sink as it eventually contaminates our drinking water.”

Drug collection such as that planned April 28 is the safest way to dispose of any unused or unwanted medication, whether it be prescription or over-the-counter, Perno said.