Woodward, Okla. —
The Northwest Center for Behavioral Health (NCBH) is wanting to let all area residents know where and how they can dispose of their unused prescription drugs.
Ashley Ferguson, prevention coordinator with NCBH, said that abuse of prescription drugs is on the rise in Woodward County.
"We have been working over the last year to identify the non-medical use of prescription drugs as a priority for us, since it is a large issue in Woodward County," Ferguson said.
Ferguson said that many of the people who do abuse prescription drugs get them from a family member's medicine cabinet.
According to research conducted by The Partnership at Drugfree.org, 1 in 6 teens say they have taken a prescription medication that was not prescribed to them.
Proper disposal of the unused medication is the best way to help prevent the abuse of these drugs, Ferguson said.
Many may think that flushing medications down the toilet is the best way to dispose of them, but the FDA actually recommends other options for disposal, Ferguson said.
"They don't recommend flushing them, because some may contaminate the water supply, but the FDA does have a list on their website of medications you can flush," she said. The Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) website is www.fda.gov.
If you can't find your medication on the flushable list or are unsure if it is safe to flush, one safe way to dispose any drug is to deposit them in approved drug disposal boxes that the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics has placed at area law enforcement offices.
For local citizens, Ferguson said, "We recommend that you take your unused medications to either the Woodward Police Department or the Woodward County Sheriff's Office and place them in the disposal boxes."
The following is a list of other area sheriff and police departments that have disposal programs and the location of their disposal sites.
Beaver County, 215 Avenue E in Beaver
Cimarron County, Courthouse Square in Boise City
Ellis County, 210 E. Renfro in Arnett
Harper County, 311 SE 1st Street in Buffalo
Major County, 500 E. Broadway in Fairview
Seiling Police Department, 315 N. Main in Seiling
Texas County, 1102 S. Ellison in Guymon
If no disposal program is available in your area, the FDA recommends that you mix medications with an unpalatable substance such as kitty litter or used coffee grounds, then place the mixture in a plastic bag and place in your household trash.
By mixing the medication with unappealing substances and then double bagging it, Ferguson said it helps make sure that children and pets are not able to get to them once you have disposed of the pills.
To help keep your current medications out of the wrong mouths, she said, "we encourage that people keep the medications that they are using in a secure location such as a lock box."
If you have any questions on proper pill disposal, feel free to call the NCBH at (580) 571-3241. Or visit www.pact360.org, which is a website associated with The Partnership at Drugfree.org that seeks to "provide parents and teens with a '360-degree' view of existing and emerging drug and alcohol issues."
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Disposal program available for unused medication
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