KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 September 20, 2010 \u2013 They are prescribed for back injuries, torn knee ligaments, oral surgery and for dulling the pain following numerous types of surgeries. But long after the pain subsides, remnants of the treatments remain in people\u2019s medicine cabinets. National Drug Enforcement Agency Take Back Day set for Sept. 25 KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 September 20, 2010 \u2013 They are prescribed for back injuries, torn knee ligaments, oral surgery and for dulling the pain following numerous types of surgeries. But long after the pain subsides, remnants of the treatments remain in people\u2019s medicine cabinets. They […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":639,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[20,35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-events","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/639"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5442\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nThey are the federally controlled substances–painkillers like Vicodin, Percocet or Oxycontin. Other medications in the controlled substance category include stimulants to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (such as Adderall) and medications to treat anxiety (such as Xanax or Valium).
\nSuch medications are potentially addictive and are becoming increasingly abused by teen-agers across the country.
\nThat\u2019s why a team from the University of Rhode Island\u2019s College of Pharmacy is urging people to participate in the National Drug Enforcement Agency\u2019s Take Back Day Saturday, Sept. 25 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.<\/strong> URI faculty and students have been distributing informational flyers promoting the event.
\n\u201cBy law, pharmacists cannot take back controlled substance medications once they are dispensed,\u201d said Anita Jackson Derreza<\/a>, clinical assistant professor of pharmacy. \u201cThat\u2019s why we are promoting this Take Back Day with the DEA and area law enforcement units.\u201d
\nIndividuals may bring their medications to the following locations:
\n\u2022 Bristol County Sheriff\u2019s Dept., 1710 Fall River Ave., Seekonk, Mass.
\n\u2022 Charlestown Police Department, 4901 Old Post Road
\n\u2022 Cumberland Police Department, 1380 Diamond Hill Road
\n\u2022 East Providence Police Department, 750 Waterman Ave.
\n\u2022 Fall River Police Department, 685 Pleasant St., Fall River, Mass.
\n\u2022 Middletown Police Department, 123 Valley Road
\n\u2022 Newport Police Department, 120 Broad St.
\n\u2022 Rhode Island Department of the Attorney General, 150 South Main St. Providence
\n\u2022 Warren Police Department, 1 Joyce St.
\n\u2022 Warwick Police Department, 99 Veterans Memorial Drive
\n\u2022 Woonsocket Police Department, 242 Clinton St.
\nThose seeking additional locations may go to www.DEA.org and type in their zip code or city\/town name and state.
\n\u201cWe are most interested in collecting any drug that has addiction potential,\u201d Derreza said. \u201cThe collection is free and anonymous; people seeking to drop off medications will not be asked questions. Police are not collecting illegal substances or needles or syringes.\u201d
\nDerreza used the example of a patient having a tooth pulled to illustrate what can happen with prescriptions. \u201cSo you have a tooth pulled and your oral surgeon gives you 20 Percocet tablets, but you only need a few. You decide to keep the rest in case you have another need for them later. But if such medications sit in medicine cabinets, teens can come across them and then be taken at what are known as \u2018pharming\u2019 parties.\u201d
\nYoung people often believe that taking prescription drugs is safer than taking illegal substances because they come from a pharmacy. Plus teens don\u2019t have to have an exchange with a street dealer to obtain them. But they can be just as dangerous, Derreza said.
\n\u201cPlus if people hold onto these drugs beyond their expiration dates, they can be dangerous at worst and ineffective at best,\u201d Derreza said.
\nShe said the College has also worked with Save the Bay to promote the event. Current U.S. Food and Drug Administration policy says that unused or expired medicines should be flushed down the toilet.
\n\u201cWhile there is no evidence that such a practice is harmful to the environment, we don\u2019t really know the long term-effects,\u201d Derreza said. Derreza and her team are hoping for a big turnout Saturday to maximize the collection of these medications and reduce access to controlled substances by teenagers so those involved can see the benefit of permanent drop boxes being placed in police stations.
\n\u201cNationally, 4.5 million or 20 percent of teens have abused prescription drugs,\u201d she said. \u201cThere are 1 million trips to emergency rooms around the country each year for prescription overdoses.\u201d
\nMedia Contact: Dave Lavallee<\/a>, 401-874-5862<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"