U.S. Attorney Trent Shores applauds the DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, Oct. 27, 2018, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at 11 collection sites throughout the Northern District of Oklahoma. The event is an effort to rid homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs.
“I encourage our community to use this opportunity to safely and anonymously turn in outdated and unused prescription drugs, The simple act of safely disposing of outdated and unused prescription drugs helps to stop the spread of addiction and keeps those drugs out of the wrong hands," said U.S. Attorney Shores.
Last April, Oklahomans located in the 11 counties (Tulsa, Pawnee, Osage, Creek, Washington, Nowata, Rogers, Craig, Mayes, Ottawa, and Delaware Counties) which comprise the federal Northern District of Oklahoma participated in record numbers, resulting in the collection of 1,160 pounds of expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs.
Overall, Americans nationwide did their part to drop off a record number of unused, unwanted or expired prescription medications during the DEA’s 15th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, at close to 6,000 sites across the country. Together with a record-setting amount of local, state and federal partners, DEA collected and destroyed close to one million pounds-nearly 475 tons-of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs, making it the most successful event in DEA history. This brings the total amount of prescription drugs collected nationwide by DEA since the fall of 2010 to 9,964,714 pounds, or 4,982 tons.
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. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 91 Americans die each day from an opioid overdose. Some painkiller abusers move on to heroin: Four out of five new heroin users started with painkillers.
Flushing medications down the toilet or throwing them in the trash pose potential safety and health hazards. This initiative addresses the public safety and public health issues that surround medications languishing in home cabinets, becoming highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse.
The collection sites in the Northern District of Oklahoma are:
• Bartlesville Police Department - 615 S. Johnstone Ave., Bartlesville, OK 74003
• Bristow Police Department - Walmart, 105 W. Highway 16, Bristow, OK 74010
• Fire Station No. 3 - 100 SE Madison Blvd., Bartlesville, OK 74006
• Fire Station No. 4 - 3501 SE Price Rd., Bartlesville, OK 74006
• DEA-Tulsa Resident Office - News On 6 Studios, 303 N. Boston Ave., Tulsa, OK 74103
• BIA-OJS Miami - Northeastern Tribal Health Systems 7600 S. Highway 69A, Miami,
OK 74354
• Miami Nation Tribal Police Department - 3410 P. St., Miami, OK 74354
• Sapulpa Police Department - 20 N. Walnut St., Sapulpa, OK 74066
• Tulsa Police Department - 8310 S. Olympia Ave., Tulsa OK 74132
• Tulsa Police Department - Patrick Henry Elementary, 3820 E. 41st St., Tulsa, OK 74135
• Wyandotte Nation Tribal Police Department - 14 South Main, Wyandotte, OK 74370
The DEA cannot accept needles or sharps. The DEA can accept pills, patches, and tightly sealed liquids.
For more information or to locate a collection site nearest you, go the DEA Prescription Drug Take Back Day web site at https://takebackday.dea.gov/#collection-locator where you can search by zip code, city, or state.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
