By K.D. Norris
ken@wktv.org

While local groups will take back un-used or unwanted prescription drugs all year, every year National Drug Take Back Day — this year Saturday, Oct. 26 — focuses local efforts including those in Kentwood and Wyoming.

The need for prescription drug recovery range from keeping them out of the illegal marketplace to protecting public water supplies and wildlife from possible exposure.

In Kentwood, the Kentwood Police Department will take back prescription pills and patches at 4742 Walma Ave SE, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., in a service that is “free and anonymous, no questions asked,” according to supplied material. (The Department cannot accept liquids or needles or sharps, only pills or patches.)

In Wyoming, the City of Wyoming is once again partnering with Metro Health-University of Michigan Health to provide a location for residents to dispose of unused medications safely and properly. Persons can drop off expired, unused prescriptions and even over-the-counter medications at Metro Health Hospital lobby, 5900 Byron Center Ave., also from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (Call 616-252-7117 with any questions.)

Kent County also spearheads year-around efforts for drug take back. The Kent County Department of Public Works has established the SafeMeds Program that includes a list of many local pharmacies and law enforcement agencies that will accept unwanted medications. (For more on the SafeMeds Program, visit here.)

The efforts, both locally and nationally, are driven by high rates of abuse of unused prescription drugs as well as concerns of public water contamination due to those drugs being disposed of improperly, including simply flushed down toilets.

Last fall, Americans turned in nearly 469 tons (more than 937,000 pounds) of prescription drugs at nearly 6,300 sites operated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and almost 5,000 state and local law enforcement partners. Overall, in its 17 previous Take Back events, the DEA and its partners have taken in more than 11.8 million pounds — approximately 5,900 tons — of pills, according to supplied material.

In Kentwood, the Kentwood Police Department will be giving the public its 18th opportunity in nine years to “prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs,” according to supplied material.

This initiative focuses on medicines that languish in home cabinets and 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.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health shows, year after year, that the majority of misused and abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including someone else’s medication being stolen 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.

While information is scarce, according to a 2002 analysis by the U.S. Geological Survey of 139 streams across 30 states it was found that 80 percent of waterways tested had measurable concentrations of prescription and nonprescription drugs, steroids and reproductive hormones.

According to a 2018 report in healthline.com, bay mussels in Washington’s Puget Sound tested positive for oxycodone, an opioid prescription analgesic. Pharmaceutical contamination in aquatic wildlife also potentially raises the risk for more human contact through direct consumption of these animals.

Pharmaceutical and hormonal contaminants, including bisphenol-A, antibiotics, and opiates, are being detected in a significant portion of the United States groundwater supply for drinking water.

While researchers say that the levels detected are unlikely to cause any harmful effects, it is unknown what, if any, amount of these chemicals will make it through water treatment to the tap.

The problem of unused prescription drugs generated by nursing homes is also a factor in there problem. While there is little nationwide estimates on the issue, another report details how Colorado officials in 2017 said the state’s 220 long-term care facilities throw away 17.5 tons of potentially reusable drugs every year, with a price tag of about $10 million.

The Environmental Protection Agency estimated in 2015 that about 740 tons of drugs are wasted by nursing homes each year.

For more information about the disposal of prescription drugs, visit the DEA website here.

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