The April 28th National Drug Take-Back Day was a huge success not only locally in Upper Bucks county, but throughout all of Bucks County and the rest of the country. In the UBHCHY Coalition area, the following police departments participated and collected increasing amounts of unused or expired prescriptions, (total pounds in parentheses):
The April 28th National Drug Take-Back Day was a huge success not only locally in Upper Bucks county, but throughout all of Bucks County and the rest of the country. In the UBHCHY Coalition area, the following police departments participated and collected an astounding amount of unused or expired prescriptions, (total pounds in parentheses): Dublin Borough (26.75), Hilltown Township (102.82), Pennridge Regional (58.51), Perkasie Borough (64.26), Quakertown Borough (155.43), Richland Township (129.44), Tinicum Township (35.81) and Springfield Township (41.61). The total number of pounds from all forty-three sites throughout Bucks County was 4,396.33 pounds, surpassing the record set in the fall of 2011 of 3,860.44 pounds. Once again, Bucks County far surpassed any other county totals in the state of Pennsylvania. During the Take Back Days, the police are the only ones allowed to touch the drugs; therefore, we extend a heartfelt ‘thank you’ to all of the departments throughout the county, specifically to the eight police departments in Upper Bucks who participated in this event.
Dispose of unwanted prescription drugs safely
through a secure Drug Drop Box location.
Two tons of drugs sounds like a lot. However, it is only a fraction of the outdated and unused drugs that are in our medicine cabinets and homes. We need to continue to be vigilant. Recent studies tell us the illegal use of prescription drugs is on the rise. In our most recent Profile of Student Life: Attitudes and Behaviors Survey, 12% of Upper Bucks 8th, 10th and 12th graders admitted to illegally using a prescription drug within the previous thirty-day period before the survey. In addition to using the prescription drugs, there is also a problem with people stealing painkillers from family and friends and selling them.
In an attempt to provide citizens with a way to dispose of these prescribed drugs, several police departments have installed permanent drug drop-boxes at their police stations. These include Quakertown Borough (the first drop-box installed anywhere in Bucks County), Hilltown Township, Pennridge Regional, Richland Township and Springfield Township. To date, there are a total of twenty-two drop-boxes in the county and more will be added in the future. The advantage to having a drop-box is that residents do not have to wait until there is an official Take-Back Day to dispose of unused, unwanted or outdated drugs. For details, call your local police department for their hours of operation.
The next Drug Take-Back event will be held on September 29, 2012 from 10 AM to 2 PM. The UBHCHY Coalition will continue to be involved and will help advertise this event later this summer. Additionally, during this summer’s July 4th Community Day at the Quakertown Memorial Park, the Quakertown police department will be bringing their drug drop-box for citizens to dispose of unused drugs.
Please help us to keep these drugs off the streets and out of our water supplies by participating in the Drug Take-Back program.
