Drug disposal events going on Saturday

Marble Falls and Burnet again will be sites for National Prescription Drug Take Back Day from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 22.

The free no-questions-asked service allows the public to dispose of unused, unwanted prescription medications.

In cooperation with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) events are being carried out at 4,700 collection sites nationwide, operated by 3,800 local law enforcement agencies and other community partners.

“America is presently experiencing an epidemic of addiction, overdose and death due to abuse of prescription drugs, particularly opioid painkillers,” reads the DEA announcement of the event. “(More than six million) Americans age 12 and over—2.4 percent of the population—abuse prescription drugs, according to the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health released last month, more than abuse cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, and methamphetamine combined.

“Drug overdoses are now the leading cause of injury-related death in the United States, eclipsing deaths from motor vehicle crashes or firearms. The majority of prescription drug abusers report that they obtain their drugs from friends and family, including from the home medicine cabinet.”

Last April, during its 11th Take Back Day, the DEA and more than 4,200 national, tribal and community law enforcement partners collected 893,498 pounds (about 447 tons) of unwanted prescription drugs at almost 5,400 collection sites. Since the program began six years ago, about 6.4 million pounds (about 3,200 tons) of drugs have been collected.

“That’s more than a quarter pound of pills for each of the 25 million children aged 12-17 in America, pills that won’t result in abuse or overdose,” said the DEA.

The bonus is that old drugs will not be added to landfill or flushed into water, polluting the Highland Lakes and Central Texas groundwater.

The DEA Austin office, along with the local law enforcement and community coalitions set up collection sites all over Central Texas, including:

Marble Falls Police Department, 209 Main Street, Marble Falls; Burnet County Courthouse, 220 South Pierce Street, Burnet; Lampasas Police Department, 301 East 4th Street, Lampasas, and Liberty Hill Police Department, 2801 Ranch to Market Road 1869, Liberty Hill.

Collection sites across the nation can be found by going to www.dea.gov, a site continuously updated with new take-back locations.