State College Collection Targets Expired, Unwanted Prescriptions

The State College Police Department has partnered with the Drug Enforcement Administration to host another drug-collection event.

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, officials at the State College Municipal Building, 243 S. Allen St., will collect expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs from the public.

The service is free — ‘no questions asked,’ according to a news release.

Officials have called the effort a way to prevent pill abuse and theft. Last April alone, U.S. residents turned in 188 tons of prescription drugs at such collection events nationwide, the release notes.

‘Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse and abuse,’ the release reads. ‘Rates of prescription-drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the (numbers) of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet.’

Furthermore, the release goes on, flushing unused drugs down the toilet and throwing them away present safety and health hazards.