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Drug Take Back Day Set For Oct. 27

The 16th National Prescription Drug Take Back day will be held on Saturday, Oct. 27, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office, community partners and the Drug Enforcement Administration will provide the public with an opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by clearing out their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs. There is no charge and no questions asked.

Medicines that deteriorate over time in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse and abuse.

“Very often, unused prescription drugs find their way into the wrong hands that can result in tragedy. National Take Back Day provides hundreds of people the opportunity to clean out their medicine cabinets and dispose of prescriptions in a safe and anonymous manner,” said Kelley Potter, HOPE Chautauqua Coalition coordinator.

Hope Chautauqua Coalition officials said in a news release that rates of prescription drug abuse in the United States are high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to prescription drugs. Studies show a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends from the home medicine cabinet. In addition, Americans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines-flushing them down the toilet, drain or throwing them directly in the trash pose potential safety and health hazards to the environment.

Prescription medications may be brought to any of the following locations in Chautauqua County:

¯ the Chautauqua Mall, 318 E. Fairmount Ave., Lakewood, in the JC Penney parking lot;

¯ Southside Pharmacy, 766 Foote Ave., Jamestown;

¯ Westfield Family Physicians, 138 E. Main St., Westfield; and

¯ Alstar Ambulance, 738 Monroe St., Dunkirk.

Only pills and other solids, such as patches can be brought to the collection sites for disposal – liquids and needles (sharps) will not be accepted.

To complement this event, HOPE Chautauqua’s ongoing Take It To THE BOX campaign is aimed at bringing awareness of the permanent disposal drop boxes in the county and three actions people can take to keep their prescription medications safe — safe use, safe storage and safe disposal of medications.

Permanent drop box location sites are available across Chautauqua County:

¯ Jamestown Police Department, 201 E. Second St., Jamestown, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week;

¯ Westfield Police Department, 27 Elm St., Eason Hall, Westfield, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week;

¯ Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office, 15 E. Chautauqua St., Mayville, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week;

¯ Fredonia Police Department, 9 Church St., Fredonia, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week;

¯ Silver Creek Court Clerk’s Office Municipal Building, 172 Central Ave., Silver Creek; open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday; and

¯ Lakewood/Busti Police Department, 20 W. Summit St., Lakewood, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week;

¯ Ellicott Police Department, located in the Ellicott Administration Building, 215 S. Work St., Falconer, open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Additional drop boxes are expected to be open soon at the Dunkirk Police Department, 342 Central Ave., Dunkirk, and the Westfield Community Pharmacy on Main Street, Westfield.

For more information about the disposal of prescription drugs or the Oct. 27 National Take Back Day, event visit www.casacweb.org or www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drugdisposal/takeback/index.html. More information is also available on Facebook at www.facebook.com/hopechautauqua.

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