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Feds say unused pills can be returned

In Durango, police offer dropbox for controlled substances
The Drug Enforcement Administration says people will now be able to return controlled substances such as OxyContin to pharmacies. The new rule will take effect in October.

Concerned by rising rates of prescription drug abuse, the Drug Enforcement Administration announced last week that it would permit consumers to return unused prescription medications, like opioid painkillers, to pharmacies.

The move is intended to help reduce stockpiles of unneeded medicines in homes, which are often pilfered by teenagers. Under the new regulation, patients and their relatives also will be allowed to mail unused prescription drugs to an authorized collector using packages to be made available at pharmacies and other locations, like libraries and senior centers.

The new regulation, which will go into effect in a month, covers drugs designated as controlled substances. Those include opioid painkillers like OxyContin, stimulants like Adderall and depressants like Ativan.

Until now, these drugs could not legally be returned to pharmacies. The Controlled Substances Act allowed patients only to dispose of the drugs themselves or to surrender them to law enforcement.

“This is big news and long overdue,” said Dr. G. Caleb Alexander, co-director of the Center for Drug Safety and Effectiveness at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “It’s baffling that it’s so easy to get a prescription for opioids and yet so difficult to dispose of these drugs safely.”

Injuries and deaths from prescription drug abuse, particularly opioids, have soared in recent years.

In Durango, Rite Aid pharmacist Brandon Meyers said Rite Aid does have a program for mailing back unused prescriptions.

“You buy an envelope and mail them off,” he said. “But they specifically won’t take back medications that are controlled substances.”

Right now, locals’ only option is a drop box in the lobby of the Durango Police Department.

DPD spokesman Lt. Ray Shupe said the drop box is the first line of defense against rising nonmedical use of prescription medication. He said people can still flush their excess medications down the toilet, but then they “are routed to municipal sewage plants that are not designed to effectively destroy them.”

People avail themselves of the Durango Police Department’s dropbox constantly.

“The DEA comes in once a month to collect our stuff,” he said. “They’re always cleaning it out, then they destroy it in an environmentally friendly way. It’s been really successful for us.”

More than 70 percent of teenagers say it is easy to get prescription drugs from their parents’ medicine cabinets, according to a 2014 Partnership for Drug-Free Kids study.

“The sooner we get those unused medications out of the home and medicine cabinets, the better and safer it is for everyone,” said Carmen A. Catizone, executive director of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy.

Until now, consumers have had limited options for the disposal of controlled substances. Twice annually, people could anonymously return them to police departments during thousands of national “take-back” events organized by the DEA.

In the past four years, these events have removed from circulation 4.1 million pounds of prescription medications.

The biggest obstacle may be convincing the public that it is irresponsible to hold onto medications that are no longer needed.

“With our opioid crisis, the level of overdoses we have and the amount of kids who are stealing these drugs, to be a good citizen, you must get rid of your prescription drugs as soon as you’re finished with them,” said Gary Tennis, secretary of the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs in Pennsylvania.

Herald staff writer Chase Olivarius-McAllister contributed to this report.



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