SALT LAKE CITY – Officials concerned about the danger posed by prescription drugs held an event Saturday where they helped Utahns disposes of pharmaceuticals they don’t need.
Officials with the Drug Enforcement Agency hold the event in order to keep prescription drugs out of the wrong hands; drugs that don’t get used by those who they are prescribed to are sometimes stolen or even ingested by accident.
Nicki Hollmann, assistant special agent in charge for the Drug Enforcement Agency’s Salt Lake City District Office, said they work to prevent drug abuse.
“It allows the community an opportunity to dispose of them in the proper way, in an environmental way, and it allows the community to also remove those pharmaceuticals and medications that may pose a danger in their home, or may be diverted to individuals who would try to abuse the drugs,” Hollmann said.
The event is held twice each year, and another such take-back event is planned for the fall. At last fall’s event, officials collected about 4,500 pounds of medications, and they said they expect Saturday’s totals to exceed that.
