What: Local Law Enforcement and Public Health Hold Drug Drop-off Event
When: Saturday (April 30), 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Where: Mt. Shasta Mall in Redding and the Safeway in Burney
On Saturday, the Redding Police Department, Shasta County Sheriffs Office, Public Health and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will host a Drug Drop-Off event. This FREE, anonymous event provides community members an opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription and over-the-counter medications.
Last September, Americans all over the county turned in 242,000 pounds – 121 tons – of prescription drugs at nearly 4,100 sites operated by the DEA and state and local law enforcement partners. Locally, the Shasta County Sheriff’s Department collected almost 130 pounds of medications.
This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that sit in home cabinets are highly susceptible to 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 – pose potential safety and health hazards.
For more information about this event, call Redding Police Department at (530) 225-4200 or the Shasta County Sheriffs Department at (530) 245-6165.
-from press release
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