Drug Take Bay Day in South Lake Tahoe October 26

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Have bottles of prescriptions sitting unused in your medicine cabinet?

A free and anonymous disposal site for expired and unused drugs will be in the American Legion Post 795 parking lot at 2748 Lake Tahoe Blvd, South Lake Tahoe, on October 26 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. as part of National Drug Take Back Day. The South Lake Tahoe Police Department (SLTPD) in conjunction with the Tahoe Alliance for Safe Kids (TASK) will be hosting the event. TASK and SLTPD will both be on hand to answer any questions or address any concerns the public may have.

You don't have to get out of your car - just drive up to the TASK tent.

No questions asked, just drop off your pills or patches (no liquids or sharp instruments will be accepted). Remove or blacken out the patient's name on the bottle before dropping it off.

Disposing of prescriptions in a sink or toilet may cause harm to the environment. Getting rid of unused medication through a Drug Take Back Day ensures it won't fall into the wrong hands or contaminate the groundwater in your area.

Getting prescription drugs out of households will help keep these drugs out of the hands of those who weren't prescribed them.

Prescription painkillers are the most commonly abused by teenagers, followed by stimulant medications and over-the-counter cough medicine. These legal drugs are more frequently abused by teens in this country than heroin and meth combined.

The facts are sobering. Every day, 2,000 teens in this country abuse a prescription drug for the first time. Two-thirds of teens who abused pain relievers in the past year say they got them from family and friends. This includes getting them in their very own homes from their medicine cabinets. Opioid pain relievers, like OxyContin and Vicodin, are responsible for more deaths than cocaine and heroin combined.