Yamhill County Taking Back Unwanted Prescription Drugs

Pills dumped down a toilet go into public water supplies; this is a chance to properly rid your home of dangerous drugs.

(MCMINNVILLE, Ore.) - On April 30 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. the Yamhill County Sheriff's Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will give the public another opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs.

Bring your medications for disposal to WOW Recovery Zone/Greenlands at 2200 NE Orchard Avenue. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

According to Yamhill County Sheriff Jack Crabtree, last September, Americans turned in 242,000 pounds-121 tons-of prescription drugs at nearly 4,100 sites operated by the DEA and more than 3,000 state and local law enforcement partners.

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

"Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse". Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, 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.

Four days after last fall's event, 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 has begun drafting regulations to implement the Act, a process that can take as long as 24 months.

Until new regulations are in place, local law enforcement agencies like Yamhill County Sheriff's Office, McMinnville Police Department and the DEA will continue to hold prescription drug take-back events.

As a service to our community, Yamhill County will be installing Drug Take Back drop boxes in the cities of Lafayette and Sheridan, and a receptacle will be installed in the Yamhill county Courthouse located at 535 NE 5th Street, McMinnville. In addition, the McMinnville Police Department has installed a discrete Drug Take Back drop box located in the McMinnville Police Department. The box is open for drug disposal Monday through Friday 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.