Mark your calendars. This Saturday, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is pushing out a major movement called National Drug Take-Back Day. The concept is simple. Through media and online promotions, people across the country will be encouraged to dispose of all excess prescription medications in an effort to take a stand against addiction.
Several big players will be involved in this initiative too. Google, for example, has created a special online tool that helps users locate where they can make disposals in their neighborhoods. The multi-billion dollar site has actually been making quite a few addiction headlines as of late, particularly for a new stance on the way they promote recovery ads.
Company rep Susan Molinari issued a statement about Drug Take-Back Day and the hopes of it putting a dent in America’s opioid crisis.
“The DEA has found that one way Americans can help prevent drug abuse and addiction is to properly dispose of unneeded or expired prescription drugs,” she explained. “Yet many people aren’t aware of, or can’t easily find, prescription drug disposal programs in their communities.”
The way their particular tool will work involves entering a zip code, then getting directions to up to 5,500 local destinations that accept unused or expired medications. Similar locations were set up last year, but without easy digital accessibility.
Though Drug Take-Back Day has been going for a while, it has been gaining some serious momentum in 2018. Last year did bring about a decent amount of publicity, with over 456 tons of prescription drugs collected over an eight hour period.
To help spread the word this year, the DEA has launched a Drug Take-Back Day microsite. There you can find a countdown clock, details about the big day and a wide variety of resources for anyone who is suffering from a prescription-based addiction.
“Too often, unused prescription drugs find their way into the wrong hands,” the site reads. “That’s dangerous and often tragic. That’s why it was great to see thousands of folks from across the country clean out their medicine cabinets and turn in – safely and anonymously – a record amount of prescription drugs.”
We highly encourage everyone to learn more about the event and share the news with others. Unused prescription pills can certainly have negative implications, particularly if your household has someone prone to a dependency.
You can find out a few more details about the Saturday initiative via the YouTube clip below…
