Police See ‘Strong Turnout’ On Drug Take-Back Day
Roughly 400 Pounds Of Prescription Medication Collected
Posted: October 4, 2012
HARRISONBURG — Local police collected more than 400 pounds of unwanted, unused or expired prescription drugs during Saturday’s national drug take-back day.
The collection surpassed the amount dropped off during a similar event in the spring by more than 150 pounds.
“It’s a pretty strong turnout,” said Rockingham County Sheriff Bryan Hutcheson, adding that the drugs no longer have the potential to be stolen, sold on the street or abused. “That’s a lot that’s not out there in circulation now.”
Opiate-based drugs, such as oxycodone, the active ingredient in prescription painkillers Percocet and Oxycontin, and hydrocodone, the ingredient found in Vicodin and Lorcet, are often stolen and sold on the street to users looking for a heroinlike high. The brand-named anti-anxiety drugs Valium and Xanax also are popular medications sold and used on the black market.
The potential for abuse isn’t the only reason to get expired or unused prescriptions out of a home’s medicine cabinet, doctors at Rockingham Memorial Hospital say.
Over time, doctors say, the medications lose potency. Taking expired drugs also could lead to an accidental poisoning, they say, in both adults and children.
Deputies collected 281 pounds at the Rockingham County Fairgrounds on Saturday, while Harrisonburg police collected 108 pounds at the police department in downtown Harrisonburg.
An additional 20 pounds were collected at the Sunnyside retirement community in Massanetta Springs for a total of 409 pounds.
Local police collected 241 pounds of medication during a national take-back day in April.
Contact Pete DeLea at 574-6278 or pdelea@dnronline.com
The collection surpassed the amount dropped off during a similar event in the spring by more than 150 pounds.
“It’s a pretty strong turnout,” said Rockingham County Sheriff Bryan Hutcheson, adding that the drugs no longer have the potential to be stolen, sold on the street or abused. “That’s a lot that’s not out there in circulation now.”
Opiate-based drugs, such as oxycodone, the active ingredient in prescription painkillers Percocet and Oxycontin, and hydrocodone, the ingredient found in Vicodin and Lorcet, are often stolen and sold on the street to users looking for a heroinlike high. The brand-named anti-anxiety drugs Valium and Xanax also are popular medications sold and used on the black market.
The potential for abuse isn’t the only reason to get expired or unused prescriptions out of a home’s medicine cabinet, doctors at Rockingham Memorial Hospital say.
Over time, doctors say, the medications lose potency. Taking expired drugs also could lead to an accidental poisoning, they say, in both adults and children.
Deputies collected 281 pounds at the Rockingham County Fairgrounds on Saturday, while Harrisonburg police collected 108 pounds at the police department in downtown Harrisonburg.
An additional 20 pounds were collected at the Sunnyside retirement community in Massanetta Springs for a total of 409 pounds.
Local police collected 241 pounds of medication during a national take-back day in April.
Contact Pete DeLea at 574-6278 or pdelea@dnronline.com