UPDATE:
The St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office participated in the Prescription Drug
Take Back Day on April 28, 2018. As a
result, ten boxes of unused and unwanted medication totaling over one hundred
and thirty five pounds were collected.
Leonardtown, Maryland – On Saturday, April 28, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office, in conjunction with the St. Mary’s County Health Department will give the public an opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs. Bring your pills for disposal to one of three locations: District 1 Station - 37575 Charlotte Hall School Road - Charlotte Hall, Sheriff’s Office Headquarters - 23150 Leonard Hall Drive – Leonardtown and St. Mary’s Square – 21600 Great Mills Road, Lexington Park. (Please note: the Sheriff’s Office cannot accept needles or sharps.) The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.
This initiative addresses a vital
public health and safety issue.
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.
For more
information about the disposal of prescription drugs or about the April 28 Take
Back Day event, go to www.smartaboutmeds.org/disposal.
