Prescription drug takeback set for Saturday

SALINE COUNTY – Those with leftover prescription medications may dispose of those safely Saturday, when the Saline County Sheriff's Office has another prescription "takeback" from 10 a.m.to 2 p.m. Saturday at the county courthouse.

According to Saline County Sheriff Keith Brown, this is the 14th round for the drug takeback event and is designed to prevent prescription pill abuse and theft, as well as ridding homes of potentially dangerous, unused and unwanted prescription drugs.

Those wishing to throw their prescription drugs away may bring them to the courthouse parking lot during the appropriate time. The service is free and anonymous.

Brown said this initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that languish 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.

Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. 

In addition, Americans are now advised that their usual methods of disposal of unused medicines, flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash, both pose potential safety and health hazards, Brown said.