Clear out your cabinets: Tempe police will take, dispose of old prescription drugs
Apr 26, 2016, 2:11 PM
(Flickr Photo:Chris Yarzab)
PHOENIX — Tempe Police are partnering up with the Drug Enforcement Agency Saturday to host a drug take-back event, where you can drop off expired and unused medications for proper destruction.
Police officers will set up and monitor drug disposal boxes at the Tempe PD South Substation on April 30 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The station is located at 8201 S. Hardy Drive, Tempe, Arizona.
Disposal is anonymous; you are not required to remove labels from prescription medication. Citizens are invited to dispose of expired and unused over-the-counter medications as well.
“Many abused prescription drugs are obtained from home medicine cabinets,” said Tempe PD in an online release.
“In addition, flushing medications is a health hazard that adversely impacts our water supply and environment. Our goal is to impact accidental poisonings, overdoses and deaths due to the inappropriate use of prescription drugs.”
Prescription pill abuse has exploded nationally over the last 20 years. According to the Centers for Disease Control, fatal drug overdoses outnumbered fatal car crashes and shootings in 2013.
According to the DEA’s most recent data, prescription pills are increasingly the first drug abused by teenagers, with nearly 3 million teens using prescription drugs to get high for the first time in the past 12 months.