Addiction so often starts in the unlikeliest places. From teenagers smoking a joint at an extracurricular activity to people in the restaurant industry drinking excessively – substance abuse isn’t always as clear cut as we’d like.
Enter the world of prescription medication use, misuse, abuse, and addiction. It’s no secret America’s in the midst of an opioid epidemic, but did you know this epidemic often starts at home? Did you know that, according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, over 70% of people taking prescription drugs recreationally get them from a friend or relative?
While we collectively cry out for tighter prescribing regulations and increased access to treatment, our children are rummaging through our medicine cabinets. They’re not going to a dangerous neighborhood to buy drugs – at least not at first – they’re going to the bathroom.
What can we do? How can we stem the tide of prescription drug abuse that starts at home? Thankfully, the DEA has some ideas.
Prescription Drug Take-Back Day
Earlier this year, the DEA introduced something called National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day. The idea’s simple – give them your unwanted or expired medication – and the results? Nothing short of astounding.
- The first Take Back Day of 2012 ended with people turning in 552,161 pounds, or 276 tons, of medication
- There were 5,659 take-back sites across all 50 states
- Things get even better when you combine this with statistics from previous years – the DEA has collected over 1.5 million pounds, or 774 tons, of unwanted or expired medication
Those are some pretty large numbers! They make clear a few important points. Chief among these is that there’s a need, a serious need, for safe and secure disposal of prescription drugs. Imagine 1.5 million pounds of painkillers, benzos, prescription stimulants, SSRI antidepressants, and other drugs being flushed down the toilet.
Sounds scary, right? We don’t know about you, but we don’t want that stuff in our water supply here at Malvern!
It’s also worth noting a few other key points:
- There’s something called the Disposal Act which provides guidelines for how both the public and agencies like the DEA should get rid of prescription drugs.
- Long-Term Care Facilities, like Malvern, have a subset of regulations within the Disposal Act which govern how we dispose of unused medications. Find a breakdown of those rules here.
- The White House, in conjunction with the DEA, released similar guidelines for Community Agencies.
- The FDA has their own set of tips on how to get rid of expired, unwanted, or unused prescription drugs.
That’s all great information and well worth a read. Still, they don’t address the how of safe prescription drug disposal. In other words – they don’t let you, the reader, know how to get rid of any old pills you may have in your medicine cabinet.
Drop Off Locations Around Pennsylvania
Fortunately, there’s more than enough info on prescription drop off locations in PA. This includes not only the Philly area, but the entire state. Unfortunately, as of writing this, DEA approved locations for National Take-Back Day aren’t public yet.
Visit the NTBI Public Search Site periodically for updates on DEA approved locations.
Until then, check the following sites for local prescription drop off locations: