Free med toss event this weekend

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – Citizens are encouraged to clean out their medicine cabinet this weekend and properly dispose of unwanted, unused or outdated prescription drugs at Lexington’s annual spring Med Toss event. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 30, medication can be dropped off at Kentucky American Water’s main office located at 2300 Richmond Road.

The event is part of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day. Accepted items include: prescription and over-the-counter pills, vitamins, medicated ointments and lotions, and pet medication. Items that cannot be accepted include: liquids, aerosol cans, bio waste, and needles.

Med Toss is a free, anonymous service with no questions asked.

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—pose potential environmental and health hazards.

Last September, Americans turned in 350 tons (over 702,000 pounds) of prescription drugs at more med toss sites operated by DEA and its law enforcement partners.  In Lexington, residents turned in more than 1,200 pounds of medication during the 2015 Med Toss.

For more information about the disposal of prescription drugs or about the April 30 Take Back Day event, go to the DEA Diversion website.