Quartzsite Police participate in National Prescription Drug Take Back Day 2015

The Quartzsite Police Department will be participating in the 

federal D.E.A.’s “National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day” on 

Saturday, September 26th from 10:00AM – 2:00PM. 

Please bring in all of your unwanted and expired prescription medications for proper disposal. Personal information will not be gathered and you will remain anonymous. Please remove all pills from prescription containers and put into plastic baggies. For safety reasons, needles, liquids and powders should remain in their original containers. 

Proper disposal of prescription medications at the Quartzsite Police Department ensures that these medications do not get flushed into and contaminate the water systems or sit in a landfill. Most importantly, it helps keep children, teens, and adults from accessing them and unlawfully abusing them. 

As a reminder, the Quartzsite Police Department has been awarded a Prescription Drug Drop Box from the Arizona Attorney General’s Office located inside the Police Department’s front door. To use the Prescription Drug Drop Box, just read and follow the simple instructions written on the outside of the drop box. Once finished, pull the green handle and drop your unwanted prescription medications into the Prescription Drug Drop Box. 

Anybody can access and use the Prescription Drug Drop Box during normal business hours Monday thru Friday. Any questions, please call us at the QPD main phone number (928)927-4644. 

Quartzsite Police Dept. & DEA host Drug Take-Back Day Sat. April 27

DEA HOSTS ITS SIXTH STATEWIDE PRESCRIPTION DRUG TAKE-BACK DAY 

APRIL 27 AS PUBLIC PARTICIPATION 

CONTINUES TO RISE

Take-Back Day to help residents clean out their medicine cabinets of old, 

unwanted, potentially harmful drugs

PHOENIX – With public participation at an all-time high after five prior events in two years, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and its state, local, tribal, and community partners will hold a sixth Prescription Drug Take-Back Day across the state on Saturday, April 27^th.  Collection sites are open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. local time.  The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

Quartzsite residents can participate be dropping off their expired, unused, or unwanted prescription drugs to the Quartzsite Police Department between 10-2pm on Saturday.

The Quartzsite Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition (QSAPC) has brought substance abuse awareness to the community on a wider scale than had ever been present in prior years. With members from local Civic and Community Leaders through formalized training under SPF-SIG, the QSAPC began and remains committed to changing local conditions that contribute to substance abuse. To learn more visit  http://www.ci.quartzsite.az.us/Qsapcoalition/Quartzsite_Coalition_Summary_Doc_2011-12.html

The public has embraced the opportunity these Take-Back Day events provide to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, or unwanted prescription drugs.

“Arizonans responded overwhelmingly to DEA’s five previous Take-Back Day events, disposing of over 35,000 pounds of pharmaceutical drugs in the past two years, “said DEA Special Agent in Charge Doug Coleman.  “We know that young people consider controlled-substance prescription drugs like Vicodin to be a safer way to get high, but they couldn't be more wrong.  By removing unwanted prescription drugs from their homes, the public helps prevent experimentation, addiction, overdose and even death.”

Unused medications in homes create a public health and safety concern, because they are highly susceptible to accidental ingestion, diversion, misuse, and abuse.  Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high--more Americans currently abuse prescription drugs than the number of those using cocaine, hallucinogens, and heroin combined, according to the most recent National Survey on Drug Use and Health.  The majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet, according to surveys of users. 

The public can find a nearby collection site by visiting www.dea.gov, clicking on the “Got Drugs?” icon, and following the links to a database where they enter their zip code.  Only solid medicines may be turned in.  No liquids, injectables or needles will be accepted.

Four days after DEA’s first Take-Back event 30 months ago, 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.  The Act also allows the Attorney General to authorize long term care facilities to dispose of their residents’ controlled substances in certain instances.  DEA is in the process of drafting regulations to implement the Act.

If you’re a parent, please take the time to talk to your children about the harm caused by medicine abuse and educate yourself on the signs of abuse.  Please visit DEA’s interactive website for further information, www.justthinktwice.com and www.GetSmartAboutDrugs.com.