Chester County participates in National Prescription Drug Take Back Day

Additional temporary prescription drug disposal sites to be added to Chester County’s 26 permanent drug disposal locations on Saturday, April 27^th

Chester County’s Department of Drug & Alcohol Services is spreading community awareness for National Prescription Drug Take Back Day taking place this Saturday, April 27^th. Organized nationwide by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), National Prescription Drug Take Back Day provides temporary local sites for safe, convenient and responsible means of disposing of prescription drugs, while educating the public about the potential for abuse of medications.

From 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 27^th, temporary prescription drug disposal sites will be set up throughout Chester County, in locations including Avondale, Coatesville, Downingtown, Paoli and West Grove.  Find a location near you

Prescription drug misuse is an ever-growing epidemic not only in Chester County, but across the nation.  Commonly misused prescription drugs fall into three different categories which include opioids, which are pain relievers and have a similar chemical make up as heroin; sedatives, which are used to treat anxiety and depression; and stimulants, which increase attention, energy, blood pressure, heart rate and breathing rate.

“In order to decrease first time use of prescription drugs, it is imperative to begin with prevention efforts,” said Vince Brown, Director of the Chester County Department of Drug and Alcohol Services.  “In addition to education and awareness, prescription drug misuse prevention includes locking up or monitoring prescription medications that are in the home and disposing of any unneeded or expired prescription medications at a medication collection box.”

Prescription painkillers such as Vicodin, Percocet, Oxycodone, Fentanyl, and Morphine, among others, are in the opioid classification of prescription drugs. Opioid prescription drugs essentially have the same chemical make-up as heroin, which means they affect the brain and body the same. Opioid prescription drugs have had a large hand in the opioid and heroin epidemic which our county, as well as our country, is currently facing.

Chester County remains committed to tackling the opioid and heroin epidemic through intensive prevention, education, treatment and law enforcement measures, coordinated by its Overdose Prevention Task Force.  To learn more information, or to get involved, log onto the Overdose Prevention Task Force website, StopODChesco.org, or download the Chester County Department of Drug and Alcohol Services Opioid Epidemic Community Tool Kit, here.

Collection boxes for prescription drugs in Chester County are at 26 permanent locations, and for National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on April 27^th an additional 6 temporary locations will be established.  For a full list of permanent locations, go to www.chesco.org/DrugandAlcohol, and for temporary locations, go to www.DEA.gov.