48°
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
7 Day Forecast
Follow our weather team on social media

Safely dispose of your unused prescription drugs this weekend

5 years 11 months 1 day ago Friday, April 27 2018 Apr 27, 2018 April 27, 2018 5:15 PM April 27, 2018 in News
Source: WBRZ
By: WBRZ Staff

BATON ROUGE- The East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration are hosting a parish-wide Drug Take-Back Day.

The event will take place Saturday at the EBRSO Traffic Office from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. The initiative seeks to remove potentially dangerous expired or unused prescription drugs from homes, according to the EBRSO.

Authorities say the service is free and anonymous.

Any solid dosage form of pharmaceutical products such as tablets, capsules, and patches will be accepted Saturday. Liquids, needles, sharps, inhalers, syringes, IV solutions and other bio-hazard materials will not be accepted.

“Every year we are seeing an increase in overdose deaths due in large part to the abuse and addiction of opioid drugs,” said EBR Sheriff Sid Gautreaux. “We want to first and foremost educate the community about the danger of the abuse of prescription drugs. We want to also encourage them to get unused, expired or leftover prescription drugs out of their homes."

Overdose deaths in the parish for 2017 increased by 25 percent from the previous year, according to the coroner’s office. Parish emergency medical responders also administered more doses of the life-saving opiate antidote in 2017 than ever before, a number that more than doubled in the past five years.

“Leaving potentially dangerous drugs leftover from a minor surgery or ailment could cost our children their life,” said Gautreaux. “It’s not worth the risk of leaving something so harmful in our homes.”

More News

Desktop News

Click to open Continuous News in a sidebar that updates in real-time.
Radar
7 Days