National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, April 30, 2016

          United States Attorney ALICIA A.G. LIMTIACO, U.S. Attorney for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands (NMI), together with Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Resident Agent in Charge Michael Puralewski, announced that the National Prescription Drug Take Back Day was held on Saturday, April 30, 2016.

          The first National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day event was held nationwide in September 2010.  Guam and the NMI have participated every year since.  The purpose of the National Drug Take-Back Initiative is to help prevent increased pill abuse and theft, to encourage the public to rid their household of unused prescription drugs that pose a safety hazard and can contribute to prescription drug abuse, and to provide a venue for persons who want to dispose of unwanted and unused prescription drugs for safe disposal by DEA.

          The following sites in Guam and in the NMI were designated to receive unused prescription drugs:

• Naval Base Guam (Navy Exchange Food Court)
• Agana Shopping Center (Across Vitamin World)
• Agat Village Mayor's Office
• Andersen Air Force Base (Exchange & Commissary)
• Dededo Village Mayor’s Office
• Rota Health Center
• Saipan Commonwealth Health Center
• Tinian Health Center

   

          Take-back programs are the best way to dispose of old drugs.  Unused or expired prescription medications are a public safety issue, leading to accidental poisoning, overdose, and abuse.   Pharmaceutical drugs can be just as dangerous as street drugs when taken without a prescription or a doctor’s supervision.  The majority of teenagers abusing prescription drugs get them from family and friends – and the home medicine cabinet.

          The non-medical use of prescription drugs ranks second only to marijuana as the most common form of drug abuse in America.  Unused prescription drugs thrown in the trash can be retrieved and abused or illegally sold.  Unused drugs that are flushed contaminate the water supply. Proper disposal of unused drugs saves lives and protects the environment.

           For more information on prescription drug abuse, go to:  www.dea.gov, www.getsmartaboutdrugs.com, or www.justthinktwice.com.