Residents Urged to Bring in Unused Prescription Drugs

The Murrieta Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration will give the public another opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused or unwanted prescription drugs. 

The will accept unused medications between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 29. in the lobby at 24701 Jefferson Ave., Murrieta.

"The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked," said Murrieta police Lt. Bob Davenport, in a news release.

At a similar drug take-back day conducted in April, 135 pounds of unused prescription drugs were collected by the Murrieta Police Department, according to DEA Special Agent Sarah Pullen.

In Riverside County, 1,262 pounds were collected, Pullen said.

Coupled with the local take-back, Americans turned in 376,593 pounds—188 tons—of prescription drugs at nearly 5,400 sites operated by the DEA and more than 3,000 state and local law enforcement partners, according to a news release.

"This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue," Davenport said.

Unused medicines left in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse and abuse, he said, and can contribute to the high rate of prescription abuse as well as accidental overdoses and poisonings.

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.

Four days after the first Take-Back Day in September 2010, Congress passed the Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of 2010, which amends the Controlled Substances Act to allow an “ultimate user” of controlled substance medications to dispose of them by delivering them to entities authorized by the Attorney General to accept them, according to the news release.

The Act also allows the Attorney General to authorize long-term care facilities to dispose of their residents’ controlled substances in certain instances. 

DEA has begun drafting regulations to implement the Act, a process that can take as long as 24 months, Davenport said.

Until new regulations are in place, local law enforcement agencies like the Murrieta Police Department and the DEA will continue to hold prescription drug take-back events every few months, Davenport said.