TERRELL, Texas — The Terrell Police Department says their drug tack-back initiative last weekend, in partnership with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), was a success — nearly doubling their collections from their last collection.
TERRELL, Texas — The Terrell Police Department says their drug tack-back initiative last weekend, in partnership with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), was a success — nearly doubling their collections from their last collection.
The collection was held October 22, 2016, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. and five boxes totaling approximately 93 pounds of potentially dangerous unwanted, expired, and unused prescription drugs were collected, according to the department in a press release on Friday.
The tack-back program last weekend was the twelfth such event the department has held in the past six years.
““We near doubled our collection this year, collecting five (5) boxes for a total of Ninety-Three (93) pounds of unwanted drugs,” stated Terrell Police Department Reserve Sergeant Mark Pritchard. “In the previous spring session we collected three (3) boxes and Forty-Seven (47) pounds in total.”
The October 2016 Terrell Police Department collection site was the only collection site in Kaufman County.
“This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue,” stated the release. “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,” continues the release. “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,” stated the release.
