Got Drugs? Concord Police and the DEA Want Them

If you've got unwanted prescription drugs sitting around and don't know what to do with them, Concord police and the Drug Enforcement Agency will gladly take them off your hands Saturday, April 28. 

The event is part of the DEA's National Take-Back Initiative, in which the agency partners up with local police departments nationwide to " ... provide a venue for persons who want to dispose of unwanted and unused prescription drugs," according to the initiative's website.

From the press release:

Residents are invited to bring medications for disposal to the Concord Police Department, 1350 Galindo St. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

The goal of the program is to allow the public to deliver all of their unused, unwanted, or expired medications to law enforcement officials who can in turn dispose of these controlled substances in a safe and non-hazardous manner. In its three previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners took in almost a million pounds, nearly 500 tons, of pills.

This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health 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, contact Lt. Tim Runyon, (925) 603-5902.