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Press Release

Saturday’s Prescription Drug Take-Back Good Way to Fight Public Health Emergency of Opioid Abuse

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Alabama

BIRMINGHAM –Today’s declaration by President Donald Trump that America’s opioid crisis is a public health emergency underscores the importance of the DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day on Saturday, said U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town.

 The Drug Enforcement Administration’s biannual event offers the public a convenient, anonymous way to properly dispose of potentially dangerous expired, unused or unwanted prescription drugs, thereby preventing their misuse and protecting the environment from contamination that can result from flushing drugs down the toilet or throwing them in the trash.

“The number of individuals whose path to addiction began with prescription pills is staggering,” Town said. “Today, the president formally recognized what he and so many others have known for too long…that this country’s abuse and addiction to opioids is a public health emergency. This is evidenced by the sad reality that nearly 100 people in America die every day from opioid overdose. The easiest and most effective thing we all can do to protect our loved ones from prescription drug abuse, opioid addiction, and even potential progression to heroin use, is to clean out our medicine cabinets and drop those drugs off for proper disposal,” he said.

            “Last April, Alabamians turned in more 6,200 pounds of prescription drugs at more than 70 sites operated by the DEA and our state and local law enforcement partners,” said DEA Assistant Special Agent in Charge Bret Hamilton. “We hope that this Take-Back will be just as successful and will help rid our community of these deadly drugs.” 

The Take-Back will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at thousands of collection sites across the country, including more than 30 in the Northern District of Alabama. To locate a collection site near you, go to the DEA Prescription Drug Take-Back Day website at https://takebackday.dea.gov/#collection-locator where you can search by zip code, city or state.

The site lists eight drop-off locations in the Birmingham area, including the Hoover and Vestavia Hills police departments, Fultondale Fire Station No. 2, Greystone YMCA, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department at 2651 Center Point Road, Bessemer Police Department Emergency Operations Center at 651 9th Ave. SW, and the Alabama Board of Pharmacy at 111 Village St.

Huntsville-area locations include the Fox Army Health Center and the Army Air Force Exchange Service's Mail Post Exchange Building.

If this weekend is not convenient, there also are permanent, secure prescription drop-off sites in the metro Birmingham area. Locations include 24-hour Walgreens Pharmacies in Hoover, Roebuck and Bessemer, and some police and fire departments. To find a location near you, follow this link: http://www.rxdropbox.com/.

On the DEA’s Take-Back Day in April, Americans turned in 450 tons (900,000 pounds) of prescription drugs at almost 5,500 sites operated by the DEA and more than 4,200 of its state and local law enforcement partners. Overall, in its 13 previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners have taken in more than 8.1 million pounds – more than 4,050 tons – of pills. DEA cannot accept liquids, needles, or sharps, only pills or patches. The disposal service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

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. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 91 Americans die each day from an opioid overdose. Some painkiller abusers move on to heroin: four out of five new heroin users started with painkillers.

The Take-Back initiative addresses the public safety and public health issues that surround medications languishing in home cabinets, becoming highly susceptible to diversion, misuse and abuse.

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Updated October 26, 2017