FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 22, 2018
Contact:
Kraig Troxell, Media Relations and Communications Manager, 703-771-5278
[email protected]
Alex Kowalski, Public Information Officer, 703-777-0625
[email protected]
Loudoun County, VA- The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office will once again partner with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in the “Take-Back” initiative that seeks to prevent increased pill abuse and theft.
Residents can discard potentially dangerous expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs for destruction on October 27, 2018, from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m., at five sites in the county.
The sites include:
Wegmans at Dulles 28 Center, located at 45131 Columbia Place, Sterling
Eastern Loudoun Sheriff’s Station, 46620 E. Frederick Drive, Sterling; Western Loudoun Station, 47 W. Loudoun St., Round Hill
Ashburn Station, 20272 Savin Hill Drive, Ashburn
Dulles South Public Safety Center, 25216 Loudoun County Parkway, Chantilly
The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.
Since the inception of the DEA take-back program in 2010, over 10,000 pounds of unwanted and unused prescription medications have been taken off the streets of Loudoun County.
Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman, a former Special Agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, says the program addresses a critical public safety and health issue. “Recent research has shown that nearly 80 percent of Americans using heroin were introduced to opioids through prescription medication. It is imperative we remove any unused and unwanted medications from our homes, as most opioid users often get access to prescription medications from friends and relatives,” said Sheriff Chapman.
Rates of prescription drug abuse in the United States are increasing at alarming rates, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet.
The take-back program has been incorporated into a regional heroin initiative called the Heroin Operations Team. In April 2015, Loudoun Sheriff Chapman joined U.S. Representative Barbara Comstock (VA-10th District) to form the HOT Team. HOT employs a comprehensive approach that includes enforcement (at all levels), education, prevention, and treatment by incorporating local, state and federal law enforcement.
Collection sites in every local community can be found by going to http://www.dea.gov. This site will be continuously updated with new take-back locations.