Ulster Prevention Council Weekly Blog 4/23/13: National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day Saturday, April 27

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has scheduled another National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day which will take place on Saturday, April 27, 2013, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.  This is a great opportunity for those who have accumulated unwanted, unused prescription and over-the-counter drugs to safely dispose of those medications.
In the five previous Take-Back events, the DEA in conjunction with state, local, and tribal law enforcement partners have collected more than 2 million pounds (1,018 tons) of prescription medications that were removed from circulation.
The National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day aims to provide a safe, convenient, and responsible means of disposal, while also educating the general public about the potential for abuse of these medications.
Drug Take-Back Day is also an effort to keep trace drugs out of our lakes and streams (waste water treatment plants cannot remove many compounds found in medications; so when flushed or put in a landfill, drugs are discharged into our surface and ground water and consumed by fish and wildlife). 
Visit http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback/ for take-back locations in New Paltz and Kingston. There is also a permanent 24 hour MedReturn drop off box in the lobby at the Saugerties Police Department.