Law enforcement agencies in Oneida County will take back unwanted prescriptions
On April 26, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Three Lakes Police Department, the Rhinelander Police Department, the Minocqua Police Department and the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office in conjunction with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will give the public another opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs.
Medications can be disposed of at one of the following sites between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.:
Rhinelander Police Department, Three Lakes Town Hall, Oneida County Landfill.
In Minocqua, the collection will be at the Marshfield Clinic Pharmacy from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Inhalers and syringes cannot be accepted.
The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.
This is the eighth National Take Back Initiative. In October 2013, there were 146 collection sites across the state of Wisconsin including sites hosted by the Rhinelander Police Department, the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office, the Three Lakes Police Department and the Minocqua Police Department.
In Wisconsin during the October 2013 collection, Wisconsin residents turned in 19.25 tons (38,506 pounds) of prescription medication. Wisconsin ranked fourth in the nation in total amount collected, trailing only the much larger states of California, Texas and New York.
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 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. 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.
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