"Saturday, April 27th is National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. This one small step is the best thing you can do to protect your loved ones from drug addiction."
Many people do not recognize it but the misuse of legal prescription drugs is the #1 reason people become addicts. For nearly 2 years now I have been working on and supporting Operation Rio Grande. As lawmakers and law enforcement have worked together, we sought out ways to combat the drug and homeless problem in Salt Lake’s Rio Grande Neighborhood. As we were in the process of helping those who were addicted, obtain the resources they needed to get clean, the vast majority of them told us that their addiction started with prescription drugs that were prescribed to them by a doctor or that they stole them from a family member.
The purpose of National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is to help prevent addiction from ruining more lives and families. As I have worked to enact legislation to help individuals with drug addiction, get treatment and get their lives back, and it has become very clear that the most effective way to combat this epidemic is to prevent it from ever starting in the first place.
That is why I am encouraging you to take a minute and gather up all the old, unused and unneeded prescription drugs in your home and to find a collection site near you and go safely get them out of your home and off the streets. In fact, encourage your friends and family to do the same. This is not merely will help prevent possible addictions, but it will remind all of us the danger of prescription drug abuse and the importance of disposing of them in a responsible way.
You can take these unsafe drugs back to any pharmacy or local police station, or you can acquire all the information you need and a local site to take them to at http://utahtakeback.org/
Please take this small step to help make our community a safer and healthier place.
