SAFELY DISPOSE OF UNUSED AND EXPIRED
OVER-THE-COUNTER AND PRESCRIPTION MEDICATIONS
AT THESE LEHIGH COUNTY LOCATIONS
SATURDAY, SEPT. 12, 10 A.M. TO 2 P.M.
- GIANT supermarket, 3015 W. Emmaus Ave., Allentown
- CATASAUQUA Police Department, 118 Bridge St.
- SOUTH MALL (Central Court), 3300 Lehigh St., Salisbury Township
- EMMAUS Police Department, 400 Jubilee St.
- UPPER SAUCON TOWNSHIP Police Department, 5500 Camp Meeting Road, Center Valley
- FOUNTAIN HILL Police Department, 941 Long St.
- SOUTH WHITEHALL TOWNSHIP Police Department, 4444 Walbert Ave., back of Municipal Building, lower level.
- WESTGATE MALL, Main Entrance, 2285 Schoenersville Road, Bethlehem
No syringes or Sharps will be accepted
The tenth National Take Back Day drug collection event has been scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 12, 2014, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. when Lehigh County residents can take expired and
unused prescription and over-the-counter medications to police departments and other locations at eight sites in Lehigh County.
County residents can dispose of capsules, pills, including pet medications, and liquids. Syringes or Sharps will not be accepted.
Residents who dispose of medications will remain anonymous, as has been the case in the last nine collections, and no questions will be asked.
The event is being coordinated by the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office, area police departments, the Allentown Health Bureau and the U.S. Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration.
Since the first Take Back Day in 2010, 8,145 pounds of medications have been collected in the county. In addition, a total of 3,647 pounds of medications have been collected from the permanent medication collection boxes that have been installed in police departments and Lehigh Valley Hospital, Salisbury Township. In all, 11,792 pounds of drugs have been collected.
Collection sites are listed below, but computer users also can visit http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/ and click on “Got Drugs” on the left to find convenient locations. Users can click on “search for a collection site near you” and then enter their zip code.
If residents can’t dispose of their medications during the September 2015 Take Back Day, they can go to the 12 police departments and Lehigh Valley Hospital, Salisbury Township, that have permanent medication collection boxes.
The police departments with year-round collection boxes are:
Catasauqua, 118 Bridge St.; Allentown, 1005 W. Hamilton St. substation; Bethlehem, 10 East Church St.; Emmaus, 400 Jubilee St.; Slatington, 125 S. Walnut St.; Upper Saucon Township, 5500 Camp Meeting Road; South Whitehall, 4444 Walbert Ave.; Upper Macungie Township, 37 Grim Road; Whitehall Township, 3731 Lehigh St.; Salisbury Township, 3000 S. Pike Ave.; Coplay Police Department, (lobby of Coplay Borough Building), 98 S. Fourth St., Coplay; and Coopersburg Police Department, 5 North Main St., Coopersburg.
To check the hours and days of operation at those sites, call the police departments or go to www.lehighcounty.org and the District Attorney’s Office pages. Click on the link on the left called, “Permanent Medication Collection Box List of Sites.”
“From a public safety and health standpoint, it is important that residents not keep accumulations of medications in their homes,” Martin said. “Prescription drugs that can be abused by teens and adults should be routinely discarded.”
Martin said that some of the most commonly abused prescription drugs in the country are painkillers that contain hydrocodone, such as Vicodin and Percocet; oxycodone, such as
Oxycontin; anti-depressants, such as Lorazepam (Ativan) and Alprazolam (Xanax); and stimulant prescription drugs, such as Ritalin and Aderall.
Martin said studies have shown that nearly one-third of people age 12 and older who used drugs for the first time began by using a prescription drug non-medically. In addition, one in
four teens has misused or abused a prescription drug at least once in his or her lifetime, he added.
DEA personnel take the drugs to an incinerator where they are burned.
The Tenth National Take Back Day Collection in Lehigh County is coordinated by the U.S. Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration, the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office, Lehigh County police departments and the Allentown Health Bureau
