Getting rid of unwanted drugs: National Drug Take Back Day set for Saturday

PLANO -- The Plano Police Department is collecting expired, unused and unwanted drugs as part of the National Drug Take Back Initiative. The semiannual event is April 28, with medication being collected at four locations throughout the city.

Plano PD is one of nearly 4,000 law enforcement agencies nationwide participating in the event. This is the fourth time the event has been held in the city, with the previous three collecting 837 pounds of drugs, said Officer David Tilley. He said all legal drugs will be accepted, with the exception of needles and inhalers.

Lindy Privett, a sergeant with the department's crime prevention and public education units, said his goal is to collect 500 pounds of drugs.

"Please bring your old and expired prescription drugs, and your over-the-counter drugs, instead of flushing them down the toilet," Privett said. "There will be no questions asked. We are not going to sit there and match the prescription to the person. I am just going to hold out the can and have people drop the medicine in."

Privett water tests have shown estrogen and other drugs in the water system, likely due to people flushing unwanted drugs down the toilet. He said that even throwing drugs in the garbage can result in them entering the water system via rain runoff from the landfills.

"The water system can only have filters for so many things," he said. "If they try and filter everything, there wouldn't be any water. It is not only about the water. Turning the drugs into us keeps them out of the cabinet so kids can't get them and pass them onto their friends."

All of the collected drugs are given to the Drug Enforcement Agency, which incinerates them. The DEA said more than 498 tons of medication has been collected in the past 13 months as part of the three take back events.

"The amount of prescription drugs turned in by the American public during the past three Take Back Day events speaks volumes about the need to develop a convenient way to rid homes of unwanted or expired prescription drugs," said Michele M. Leonhart, the DEA Administrator. "DEA remains hard at work to establish just such a drug disposal process, and will continue to offer take-back opportunities until the proper regulations are in place."

Drugs will be collected from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at four locations in Plano. Those locations are: Plano Senior High School, 2200 Independence Parkway; Clark High School, 523 Spring Creek Parkway; Plano West Senior High School, 5601 West Parker Road; and Baylor Hospital - Plano, 4700 Alliance Blvd.

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