Bring your drugs to the police on Saturday.
Arkansas Drug Take Back Day will have nearly 300 locations across the state to encourage residents to dispose of expired and unneeded prescription medications in an environmentally safe method and it can save lives.
On Saturday, April 30th, 2022 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m., the Saline County locations for dropping your prescription medications will be:
- Alexander City Hall & Police Department, Permanent Collection Site, 15605 Alexander Rd, Alexander, AR 72002
- Benton Police Department, Permanent Collection Site, 114 S East St, Benton, AR 72015
- Bryant Family Pharmacy, Permanent Collection Site, 3801 Arkansas Highway 5, Bryant, AR 72022
- Bryant Police Department, Permanent Collection Site, 312 Roya Ln, Bryant, AR 72022
- Haskell City Hall–Haskell Police Department, Permanent Collection Site, 2520 AR-229, Benton, AR 72015
- Hot Springs Village Police Department, Permanent Collection Site, 113 Calella Rd, Hot Springs Village, AR 71909
- Hot Springs Village Property Owners Association, Take Back Event Site, 895 DeSoto Blvd, Hot Springs Village, AR 71909
- Saline County Sheriff’s Office, Permanent Collection Site, 735 S Neeley St, Benton, AR 72015
- Walmart (Bryant Police Dept), Take Back Event Site, 400 Bryant Ave., Bryant, AR 72022
- West Side Pharmacy (Benton PD), Permanent Collection Site, 620 W South Street, Benton, AR 72015
For the full statewide list, visit www.artakeback.org/
The National Prescription Drug Take Back Day addresses a crucial public safety and public health issue. According to the 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 9.7 million people misused prescription pain relievers, 4.9 million people misused prescription stimulants, and 5.9 million people misused prescription tranquilizers or sedatives in 2019. The survey also showed that a majority of misused prescription drugs were obtained from family and friends, often from their homes. The event, in partnership with the DEA National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, provides an opportunity for communities to address substance use disorder and overdose deaths.
Provisional data from CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics indicate that there were an estimated 93,331 drug overdose deaths in the United States during 2020, an increase of 29.4% from the 72,151 deaths predicted in 2019. In Arkansas, 547 people died from a drug overdose death in 2020.
“The Arkansas Drug Take Back Program is an educational program to encourage all citizens to keep their households safe,” said Kirk Lane, Arkansas Drug Director. “The more we can get people to monitor, secure and properly dispose of the medications, the more we can save lives through less accessibility of those that can intentionally or unintentionally abuse or misuse them.”
- Monitor – Know where you medications are and how many/much you have at all times.
- Secure – Lock up your medications. Don’t let them end up in the hands of someone you love to abuse them, which could even cost them their life.
- Dispose – The only way to get rid of expired and unneeded medications in an environmentally safe way is to take them to a drug takeback box or drop them off at the event for the Arkansas Drug Take Back Day at any of the 250+ locations across the state. Locations are on the website: https://www.artakeback.org/
take-back/collection-sites/
Never flush medicine and don’t throw them in the trash. Prescription medicines are a toxic waste & pose a danger to people, pets, & the environment if they are not disposed of properly. Medicines flushed or poured down the drain end up in the waterways, affecting our drinking water. A recent study shows that 80% of U.S. streams contain small amounts of human medicines. Sewage systems cannot remove these medicines from water which is released into lakes, rivers, or oceans. Fish & other aquatic animals have shown adverse effects from medicines in the water. Even very small amounts of medicine have been found in drinking water, & recent studies have shown opioids appearing in marine animals in some areas of the U.S.
Pets can also be exposed to toxic medications when they are thrown into the trash. According to the Animal Poison Control Center, 19.7% of pet poisoning calls in 2019 were attributed to over-the-counter medications and 17.2% were attributed to human prescription medications.
The medications collected during the Arkansas Drug Take Back Day will be counted for statistical purposes and the Arkansas National Guard will later transport them to be destroyed at a facility in an environmentally safe manner.
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