Law enforcement officials urging residents to take advantage of National Prescription Takes Back Day - WCJB

OCALA, Fla. (WCJB) - It’s a worldwide initiative to keep drugs, especially prescription opioids, out of the wrong hands. National Prescription Take Back Day, run by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), is being held for its 22nd year.

The program is held twice a year, in April and October. In Oct. 2021, 4,276 law enforcement agencies participated, with a total of 744,082 pounds (372 tons) collected, according to data from the DEA. In Florida, there were 205 collection sites with 32,858 pounds of medicine safely confiscated.

The first of two collection days kicks off on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Ocala Police Department (OPD) lobby will be a collection site. Partnering with the DEA on this initiative is important for the Unified Drug Enforcement Strike Team (UDEST), Capt. Jason Douglas said. He’s the Director of UDEST and helps organize ‘take back day’ efforts.

“I think that we’re going to get a lot of potentially dangerous drugs off the streets that could have fallen into the wrong hands,” Douglas said.

TV20 asked him, “When it comes to drugs being stolen out of medicine cabinets, how big of an issue is this really?”

“Unfortunately, that is a problem and it’s something we do experience with the opioid epidemic throughout the nation,” he replied.

The Dunnellon Police Department (DPD) sits at the intersection of Marion, Levy, and Citrus counties. Chief of Police Mike McQuaig said they’re ready to welcome and help educate residents this weekend. Within a 10 miles radius, the only collection sites are the DPD, the Citrus County Sheriff’s Beverly Hills substation, and the Marion County Sheriff’s Southwest district office.

“We need a place for the elderly and for the doctors, to drop their drugs off,” McQuaig said.

In a town like Dunnellon, which only has a handful of street lights, you may not expect big numbers. McQuaig said during the Oct. collection day, the DPD recovered 120 pounds of unwanted, expired medication.

“The drugs have expired or the patient that they were given to has passed on. You don’t want people to get a hold of them, like children,” said McQuaig.

But some in the community said it’s hard to be hopeful. Royce Wilson is a retired Sheriff’s deputy from Tampa. He and his wife now live in Dunnellon.

“I was in Forensics so we witnessed a lot of deaths from illegal drugs. Anything they can do to curb it is a good thing,” Wilson said, adding quickly, “I just don’t know if it’s going to really have the impact that they’re looking for.”

But Capt. Douglas said he will remain hopeful, “if it saves one life we’ve done something.”

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source: https://www.wcjb.com/2022/04/26/law-enforcement-officials-urging-residents-take-advantage-national-prescription-takes-back-day/

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