Wednesday, April 24, 2019

National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is Saturday; find a prescription surrender site near you

A twice-yearly opportunity to safely surrender prescription drugs will be held Saturday, April 27, at locations nationwide.

National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is a good way for rural residents to combat opioid abuse, according to Anne Hazlett, senior adviser for rural affairs at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. She recently spoke with the American Farm Bureau's Michael Clements for a podcast about the event.

Many of the more than 70,000 Americans who died from drug overdoses in 2017 happened because of opioids, many in rural areas. Hazlett noted that prescription drugs played a significant role in many of those overdoses: "When you step back and look at some of the research, we also find that many people who struggle with addiction didn’t get those drugs from a drug dealer. They got them from friends or family that had unused medication lying around in their homes."

National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is an initiative of the Drug Enforcement Administration. Find out more about the program or find a take back site near you here.

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