Although the national Prescription Drug Take-Back initiative has ended, Garden Spot Village and the New Holland Police Department are teaming up to build on the successful program’s momentum by offering their own drug take-back event on Saturday, April 18, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.
“Although the Drug Enforcement Administration is no longer coordinating special collection days, we wish to continue to offer the same disposal opportunity that the DEA had organized in the past,” said Colleen Musselman, director of life enrichment at Garden Spot Village. “We are partnering with the New Holland Police Department to present this much-appreciated opportunity to the general public.”
According to a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration survey released in 2013, 6.8 million Americans reported having abused prescription drugs in 2012. The study also found that 54 percent of people who abused prescription drugs got them from friends or relatives, including raiding the family medicine cabinet. Unused, unwanted and expired prescription drugs can also pose a danger to toddlers, teens or even pets. Flushing them down the toilet can also create a health and safety hazard.
From September 2010 through April 2014, the DEA Prescription Drug Take-Back Day program removed some 4.1 million pounds of unwanted, unused and expired prescription medications from circulation. The DEA’s final Take-Back Day was Sept. 27, 2014. Garden Spot Village and the New Holland Police Department brought the program to New Holland in April 2011.
The collection site at Garden Spot Village will be at Village Square Entrance #1. The site will accept pills, capsules, creams and liquids, but no syringes or “sharps”. A law enforcement officer will be present during the collection.
The event is free and completely anonymous. Participants may remove personal information from drug bottles or packages.
For more information, call 717-355-6000 or gardenspotvillage.org/news.
