Drugs Wanted: Cranberry Hosting Prescription Take Back Day

Cranberry Township will once again participate in the nationwide Prescription Drug Take-Back Day from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 27 in the parking lot of the Municipal Center on Rochester Road.

The popular drive-thru, drop-off collection program, which was initiated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration several years ago, will be staffed and coordinated by members of Cranberry Township's own police department.  

It has several goals.

First, pharmaceuticals and OTC medications expire, lose potency, and in some cases spoil. Their effects on the patient, as a result, are not what they are supposed to be, a statement from the township said.

As a result, drugs should be discarded after their expiration dates to safeguard the health of those for whom the medications were prescribed.

Even for medications with current potency dates, the U.S has no system in place for donating pharmaceuticals to charitable causes, which is against the law.  

Unwanted drugs must be discarded or destroyed, even if they are still medically useful.

Second, medicines that enter the sanitary sewer system through toilets or drains create problems for the wastewater treatment industry and the environment, according to the township.

The process that sewage treatment plants use is not designed to remove most pharmaceuticals. Those drugs enter into waterways and ultimately into drinking water.

Their impact on humans is a matter of concern to public health officials, the township said.

Third, some prescribed medications can be abused as street drugs.

The drugs can be stolen, accessed by children from home medicine cabinets, poison household pets or they could become a source of drug abuse and criminal behavior.  

Medications in the wrong hands can lead to serious addiction, legal and social problems, the township said. The misuse of Over-the-Counter medications can have similar consequences.

The Oct. 26 collection will be the seventh held in Cranberry.  In the six previous Take-Back events, DEA, together with its law enforcement partners, collected more than 1,400 tons of prescription medications.
No questions will be asked of those bringing in items for disposal and no identification is needed.

All collected medicine will be turned over to the DEA for destruction. All forms of medication, including tablets, capsules, pills, liquids and ointments, whether purchased by prescription or over-the-counter, will be accepted.  

They can be deposited loose or inside their original containers. Sharpies and syringes will not be accepted because of potential hazards posed by blood-borne pathogens.  

There is no charge for the drug disposal service.