The 15th National Prescription Drug Take Back day will be held on Saturday, April 28, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office, community partners and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will provide the public with an opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by clearing out their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs. This event is to raise awareness and help community members dispose of unused or expired prescriptions at locations all across the county, free, anonymous, no questions asked.

Prescription medications may be brought to any of the following locations in Chautauqua County: Chautauqua Mall (318 E. Fairmount Ave., Lakewood in the JC Penney Parking Lot), Southside Pharmacy (766 Foote Ave., Jamestown), Westfield Family Physicians (138 E Main St., Westfield) or Alstar Ambulance in Dunkirk (738 Monroe St., Dunkirk).

Only pills and other solids, for example, patches can be brought to the collection sites, but liquids and needles or other sharps will not be accepted.

The National Take Back Day addresses a critical public safety and public health issue. Medicines that deteriorate over time in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are at alarmingly high rates, 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. Responsible disposal of unwanted medications is a simple, but very important act in our regional fight against drug abuse.

“Very often, unused prescription drugs find their way into the wrong hands, that can result in tragedy, National Take Back Day provides hundreds of people the opportunity to clean out their medicine cabinets and dispose of prescriptions in a safe and anonymous manner” said Kelley Potter, coalition coordinator for HOPE Chautauqua.

To complement this event, HOPE Chautauqua’s ongoing Take It To THE BOX campaign is aimed at bringing awareness to the permanent disposal drop boxes in the county and three very important actions Safe Use, Safe Storage and Safe Disposal of medications. These important actions can be taken today to prevent the misuse of, and addiction to prescription drugs and heroin.

For more information about the disposal of prescription drugs or about the April 28 Take Back Day event, go to HOPE Chautauqua on Facebook www.facebook.com/hopechautauqua or contact CASAC at 366-4623 or 664-3608.

For additional information on National Take Back Day, visit the DEA Diversion website https://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drugdisposal/takeback/index.html.

About Hope Chautauqua

HOPE Chautauqua is a community substance abuse prevention coalition and an initiative of Chautauqua Alcohol & Substance Abuse Council (CASAC). Since 1974, CASAC has provided prevention education and community awareness regarding the prevention of alcohol and other drug abuse. For more information visit www.casacweb.org.