Drug take-back event Saturday

Germantown plans event as part of national effort aimed at curbing prescription medication abuse

Germantown will hold a prescription drug take-back event Saturday to collect unused medications for disposal.

The public can turn in prescription medications, anonymously and with no questions asked, at two locations: Kroger at 7735 Farmington Blvd. and Target at 9235 Poplar Ave. Germantown police are partnering with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration to hold the event.

Such take-back programs have become a tool in battling epidemic prescription drug abuse nationally. DEA reports that its partners during a May takeback day collected a record 893,498 pounds of unwanted medication nationally — nearly 447 tons — at nearly 5,400 sites in all 50 states.

The majority of prescription drug abusers report in surveys that they get their drugs from friends and family, DEA said in a statement. Clearing out old drugs during take-back events reduces accidents, thefts and the misuse and abuse of such medicines, the statement said, including opioid painkillers that accounted for 20,808 drug overdoses — 78 a day — in 2014, according to the most recent statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Eight out of 10 new heroin users say they began by abusing prescription painkillers and moved to heroin when they could no longer obtain or afford those painkillers.

In Germantown 474 pounds of drugs were collected in the May event, part of 21,229 pounds collected in Tennessee. Organizers are hoping for a similar response this time.

Saturday’s take-back will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at both locations. Aerosol inhalers, liquids, needles and sharps cannot be accepted — only pills and patches.