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Prescription Drug Take Back Day is April 29, with three locations in Vail Valley

To date, the National Prescription Drug Take Back Day event has removed more than 5,700,000 pounds of unwanted, unused or expired drugs from circulation.
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If you go …

What: National Prescription Drug Take Back Day.

When: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 29.

Where: WECMRD Field House, 450 Miller Ranch Road, Edwards; Costco, 170 Cooley Mesa Road, Gypsum; and Vail Municipal Building, 75 South Frontage Road W., Vail.

Cost: Free and anonymous.

More information: Visit http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov.

The Eagle County Sheriff’s Office, along with the town of Vail Police Department, will be participating in National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on Saturday. The event will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and there will be collection sites at the Western Eagle County Metropolitan Recreation District Field House in Edwards, Costco in Gypsum and the Vail Municipal Building in Vail.

This is an opportunity to clean out medicine cabinets of all unwanted, expired or unused medications and have them disposed of safely. Items that can be dropped off include vitamins, supplements, medicated ointments and lotions and over-the-counter and prescription medications, including controlled substances. Needles (sharps) and pressurized canisters will not be accepted.

To date, the National Prescription Drug Take Back Day event has removed more than 5.7 million pounds of unwanted, unused or expired drugs from circulation. Safely disposing of unused medications helps prevent accidental and intentional misuse of these items, while safe disposal protects water sources by keeping drugs out of wastewater and the landfill. The service is free and anonymous and no questions are asked.



The Drug Enforcement Administration, which spearheads the national effort, will dispose of the collected items properly in an environmentally friendly manner.

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Locally, the Safe Drug Disposal Program — a partnership among the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office, Vail Police Department, Eagle River Water & Sanitation District, Eagle County Government and Vail Valley Medical Center — is coordinating the DEA’s national take-back initiative.

This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the United States 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 — poses potential safety and health hazards for the environment.

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Four days after the first 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. Until new regulations are in place, local law enforcement agencies such as the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office and the DEA will continue to hold prescription drug take-back events several times each year.

To learn more about the national initiative, visit http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov.


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