The Bradley County Sheriff's Office has been accepted by the DEA as a permanent site for collection of unused medications.   

This secure locker, resembling a mail receptacle, has been placed in the criminal investigations lobby for public use.

            

Area residents clearing medicine cabinets of unused, unneeded and outdated medications will no longer have to wait for the bi-annual collection of prescription drugs conducted by the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office and GRAAB Coalition.

Confirmation the BCSO has been elevated to a permanent collection site came from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration last week along with a collection container that has been placed at the Judicial Center inside the criminal investigations entrance.

Sheriff Jim Ruth said drugs can be brought to the sheriff’s office anytime of the year during regular business hours.

While many U.S. households improperly dispose of outdated or unwanted prescription and over-the-counter medications, this program provides a safe way of removing these substances from the home and destroying them in an environmentally-friendly manner. Putting them in household garbage that ends up in a landfill or flushing them down the toilet are not acceptable means of disposal.

Since 2011, the BCSO and GRAAB (Going Respectfully Against Addictive Behaviors) Coalition, in conjunction with the DEA, has held bi-annual collections of unneeded medications.

Last week the BCSO accepted medications and received 236 pounds of drugs. They will be turned over to the DEA for destruction.

The DEA said the initiative addresses vital public safety and public health issues.

"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," the DEA said in a press release.

Items accepted for the Pharmaceutical Collection Program include:

• Prescriptions
  
  
• Over the counter medications
  
  
• Pet medications
  
  
• Medicated ointment, lotions or drops
  
  
• Liquid medications (in leak-proof containers)
  
  
• Inhalers
  
  
• Pills in any packaging (glass bottles, plastic containers, plastic bags, etc.)

Items not accepted in the program include:

• Illegal drugs and narcotics
  
  
• Sharps/needles
  
  
• Blood sugar equipment
  
  
• Thermometers
  
  
• IV bags
  
  
• Bloody or infectious waste
  
  
• Personal care products (shampoo, lotions, etc)

The hours for drop-off are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 11:30am, and 1 pm to 4 pm.

The service will not be available on weekends or designated county holidays.

The Criminal Investigations entrance is located on the south side of the Judicial Center.

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