Saturday, April 30 is National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. As part of the special event,В the Price and East Carbon Police Departments are participating in “Clean Out Your Medicine Cabinet,” an effort to dispose of unused prescription and over-the-counter medications.
The police departments have established pharmaceutical drop-off locations where members of the community can leave unused or unwanted medications with no questions asked during business hours. The disposal sites are at 910 North 700 East in Price, and at 101 West Geneva Drive in East Carbon.
“Clean Out Your Medicine Cabinet” is an effort by the Utah Department of Environmental Quality and the University of Utah Poison Control Center, along with numerous partners to reduce the problems caused by unused medications.
The Utah Department of Environmental Quality cites two reasons that unused prescriptions and over-the-counter medications are a concern. The first is that there are studies that show that these drugs are present in the country’s water bodies from flushing or pouring down the sink, and “may cause ecological harm.” The second is that storage of such medications “creates an opportunity for illicit use.”
A bill passed by Congress, the Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of 2010, allows for a safe and responsible way of disposing of these medications, utilizing such programs as the one provided by the police departments in Price and East Carbon.