Spring 2021 Drug Take Back Day

Lake Clarke Shores Police Department is taking back unwanted prescription drugs October 26 

On Saturday, April 24, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. the Lake Clarke Shores Police Department and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will give the public its 20th opportunity in 11 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 Lake Clarke Shores Police Department at 1701 Barbados Road, Lake Clarke Shores, Florida. (Sites cannot accept liquids, needles or sharps, only pills or patches.) The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

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 United States are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health shows year after year that the majority of misused and abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including someone else’s medication being stolen 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.

For more information about the disposal of prescription drugs or about the April 24 Take Back Day event, go to www.DEATakeBack.com