The 14th National Take Back Day is happening on Saturday, Oct. 28 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
National Take Back Day takes place twice a year, and is dedicated to providing a safe, easy, discrete, and educational way to dispose of unused or expired prescription medication to help prevent substance abuse within the community.
Visit www.dea.gov to find a drop off location near you. Improper disposal of prescribed drugs can lead to illegal use of drugs and access for youth.
Additionally, flushing prescribed at home. There are no questions asked about the medications being disposed or personal information. Simply drop off your unused or expired medication.
On the previous take back event, on April 2017, there were approximately 5,000lbs of drugs donated in the Rio Grande Valley.
For more information on prescription medication misuse, or any other drug use, please visit the Prevention Resource Center 11 (PRC11) website at www.prc11.org.
PRC11, a program of Behavioral Health Solutions of South Texas, is a non-profit organization dedicated to prevent alcohol and other drug use in our communities.
drugs down the toilet to dispose of the medications could contaminate the water.
Currently, the nation is under an opioid crisis indicating that proper disposal is even more crucial. The consequences of prescription drug abuse can include death, illness, violence, crime, health problems, academic failure, and other undesired events.
In the 2016 Texas School Survey, 1 in 10 students from grades 7th-12th reported to have used prescription medication for recreational purposes. In addition, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health states that seven out of 10 people over the age of 12 who misuse prescription medications get them from friends or family members.
Sometimes, misusers steal the medication from the medicine cabinets.
Martha Gutierrez
Pharr
