From Harford County government:
Harford County once again participated in the Nationwide Prescription Drug Take Back Day on Saturday, April 26, 2014. The event was a huge success. More than 300 hundred people participated in the event, resulting in 1,389 pounds of unused and expired medicines turned in to be properly disposed of and destroyed.
“I’m proud of the citizens who participated in the prescription drug take back events. The medicine will be disposed of properly without harm to the environment,” said Harford County Executive David R. Craig.
This event is significant in addressing drug overdoses relating to prescription and over the counter medicines. Nationally, an estimated 6.2 million Americans over the age of 12 years old reported misusing prescription drugs. Locally, in 2012 over 50 percent of the drug and alcohol overdose deaths of Harford County residents were related to prescription drug overdoses.
The Harford County Department of Community Services Office of Drug Control Policy staff, Sheriff Office Deputies, the Havre de Grace Police Department, and Maryland State Troopers worked together with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Agents to coordinate the local event. It addressed the problems that local prescription drug abuse is having in Harford County. Gary Tuggle, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, DEA Baltimore Office, hopes other jurisdictions mirror Harford County’s effort in prescription drug take back initiatives.
Joseph Ryan, manager for the Office of Drug Control Policy, hopes the Prescription Take Back event enhances the level of awareness concerning the dangers of prescription drug abuse, especially among our youth.
A permanent prescription drop box is available at the Maryland State Police Barrack 1401 Bel Air Road, Bel Air with no questions asked for those who did not participate in Saturday’s event.
For more information about prescription drug abuse contact the Harford County Office of Drug Control Policy at odcp@harfordcountymd.gov or 410-638-3333.
The Harford County Office of Drug Control Policy is a division within the Department of Community Services. The Harford County Department of Community Services was established in 1979 via Executive Order and works daily to meet the needs of seniors, youth, persons with disabilities and those struggling to overcome addiction. The Department works with federal, state, local and private agencies to ensure Harford County continues to evolve and remains dedicated to providing the best possible services for our citizens and community.
This is a lot of wasted manpower. Why not just flush it down the toilet, that’s free. Maybe if doctors were not handing medicine out like candy the world wouldn’t have this problem.
The reason that you should never flush medications down the toilet, is because with everyone flushing, you have a huge deluge of chemicals going into our water system. Some medications are relatively harmless, while others can be a biohazard, such as antibiotics and chemotherapeutics.
I just don’t know why Harford County Government has involved themselves in this activity for several years now. It really belongs under the Health Department or another agency other than local government which has continued to build its empire ever larger.
Actually, the Harford county Health Department is part of the take-back efforts and their staff is in picture. The Harford County Gov’t is responsible for the take -backs because it’s part of the core mission with the Office of Drug Control Policy (drug/alcohol prevention). Harford Co. has the 3rd highest overdose rate in the state. I think that anyone and everyone who can help change this statistic should be involved.