DeKalb County citizens will have another chance to get rid of unused prescription drugs during Project Medicine Chest on April 30.
The Fort Payne High School FFA and Partnership for a Drug-Free DeKalb will work together to remove old prescription drugs from homes.
The project is running in conjunction with the Kiwanis Pancake Day and the FFA plant sale. The event begins at 6 a.m. at Fort Payne High School.
April 30 is also National Take Back Day, an event sponsored the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.
"We hope to get 300 pounds of old prescription drugs out of homes and safely disposed of," FFA sponsor Chip Blanton said. "We will also work with the Fort Payne Police Department. There will be an officer on duty at all times."
Partnership director Liz Barrontine said the focus is on safety.
"It is never safe to leave medicines in the home that aren't being used," Barrontine said. "It's also no longer considered safe to flush medications. We partner with DeKalb Regional Medical Center, and they incinerate all the drugs that are collected."
According to the DEA, 242,000 pounds or 121 tons of prescription drugs were turning in last September at nearly 4,100 sites all across the nation.
"I encourage every American to take advantage of this valuable opportunity to safely dispose of unused, un-needed or expired prescription drugs," Director of National Drug Control Policy Gil Kerlikowkse said. "Preventing these readily available and potentially deadly drugs from being diverted and misused is something each and every one of us can do to help reduce the epidemic of prescription drug abuse that is harming so many Americans."
According to the DEA, more Americans currently abuse prescription drugs than the number of those using cocaine, hallucinogens and heroin combined. Studies show a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including the home medicine cabinet.
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