This Saturday, October 26, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office will participate in a one-day collaborative effort with the Drug Enforcement Administration to remove unused and expired medications from homes and medicine cabinets. You can bring your pills for disposal to the Administrative Building on Brownswitch Road in Slidell or the Law Enforcement Complex on Collins Blvd. in Covington.
The DEA cannot accept liquids, needles or sharps – only pills or patches. Any identifying information should be removed from containers before being deposited. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked. This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs.
For more information about the disposal of prescription drugs or about the Oct. 26 Take Back Day initiative, visit www.DEATakeBack.com.
