RAHALL: DRUG TAKE BACK DAY HELPS BATTLE Rx PILL ABUSE

BECKLEY, W.Va. -- U.S. Rep. Nick J. Rahall (D-W.Va.) Monday urged southern West Virginians to participate in National Drug Take Back Day on Saturday, September 29th, when police departments across southern West Virginia will provide locations for residents to safely drop-off their expired or unused prescriptions and over-the-counter medications.

“Fall is here and just as it is time to check the batteries in our smoke detectors, it’s time to clean out our medicine cabinets. If every family pitches in, the whole community wins.  With so many drop off points now, it is easier than ever to keep prescription pills out of the wrong hands,” said Rahall, who is a senior member of the Congressional Caucus on Prescription Drug Abuse. “Anonymous drop off is quick and easy and one of the simplest, most effective, prevention measures we have to battle prescription drug abuse. Before this Saturday, I urge everyone to take a minute and gather up all their expired prescriptions, especially from ‘Ground Zero’ the family medicine cabinet.” 

Drug Take Back Day is sponsored nationwide by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency in coordination with state and local law enforcement to provide the public with a no-questions-asked opportunity to turn in expired, unwanted, or unused pharmaceuticals, controlled substances, and other medications that will be safely removed from communities and destroyed. Citizens can anonymously drop off medications between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. at any one of the drop-off locations in southern West Virginia. Complete list of locations (as of September 24, 2012) is pasted below.

“After every one of these days, officials make headlines the next morning with the tonnage of unused pills that has been collected.  That unused prescription in the back of the cabinet may seem innocent enough yet it could trigger one more downward spiral for someone adding to the toll of negative impact our workforce, our health care costs, the millions of dollars for national and international interdiction, and every single day it claims the lives of our family, friends and neighbors. This may be the biggest challenge of our society, and the only way this destructive trend can be reversed is if everyone — I mean, everyone – gets involved. Our nation’s future – our children’s and grandchildren’s future – hangs in the balance,” said Rahall.

Rahall is a strong supporter of proper medical disposal as one prong of the four-part strategy he is pursuing on prescription drug abuse – a strategy that tracks the recommendations of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). The four major areas of that strategy are: education, tracking and monitoring, proper medical disposal, and enforcement.

Aside from the human toll, the abuse of prescription drugs – now considered the greatest drug threat facing our nation – carries a heavy economic cost of some $72.5 billion annually. Rahall’s effort with the Congressional Caucus on Prescription Drug Abuse is focused on developing solutions on the federal front to attack this scourge in the short and long term.

Rahall has been active and vocal in promoting legislation that he introduced, H.R. 1925, the Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, the House companion measure to the Senate bill authored by Senator Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), which would promote both physician and consumer education, as well as authorize federal funding to help states create and maintain prescription drug monitoring programs that all states can access.  In April, a House Judiciary Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill, at which Rahall testified. Rahall also has participated in national and local summits on prescription drug abuse to bring together federal, state, and local officials to focus resources on the burgeoning problem in West Virginia.

Drug Take Back Day (Saturday, September 29) locations in southern West Virginia:

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