Sheriff, DEA will take back unwanted prescription drugs for 9th time Sept. 27

On Sept. 27, the Perry County Sheriff's Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will give the public its ninth opportunity in four years to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs.

Bring your pills for disposal to one of three locations:

n inside the Perry County Sheriff's Office, located at 12 E. Water St. in Pinckneyville, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

n outside of Tamaroa Post Office, 11 N. Chestnut Street, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

n outside Willisville Post Office, 808 Broadway Street, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Officers will be present at all locations. The DEA cannot accept liquids, needles or sharps, only pills and patches. The service is free and anonymous. There will be no questions asked.

Last April, Americans turned in 390 tons (over 780,000 pounds) of prescription drugs at nearly 6,100 sites operated by the DEA and more than 4,400 of its state and local law enforcement partners. When those results are combined with what was collected in its eight previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners have taken in over 4.1 million pounds (more than 2,100 tons) of pills.

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 for disposing of unused medicines-- flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash-- both pose potential safety and health hazards.

DEA is in the process of approving new regulations that implement the Safe and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of 2010, which amends the Controlled Substances Act to allow an "ultimate user" (that is, a patient or their family member or pet owner) of controlled substance medications to dispose of them by delivering them to entities authorized by the Attorney General to accept them.

The Act also allows the Attorney General to author long-term care facilities to dispose of their residents' controlled substances in certain instances.