Drug take-back day is Saturday

Anyone with expired, unused or unwanted prescription pills can drop off the medications from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the St. Mary Parish sheriff’s offices in Morgan City and Franklin, Sheriff Mark Hebert said in a news release.
The sheriff office will participate in the National Take-Back Initiative coordinated through the Drug Enforcement Administration. The initiative gives the public an opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their home of potentially dangerous expired, unused and unwanted prescription pills, Hebert said.
Drop locations are at the sheriff’s offices at 1455 Railroad Ave. in Morgan City and the ground floor of the St. Mary Parish Courthouse in Franklin. The public may bring pills or patches only for disposal to one of two sites hosted by the St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office. This service is free and anonymous, no questions asked, Hebert said.
According to a 2011 survey by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration on Drug Use and Health, twice as many Americans regularly abused prescription drugs than the number of those who regularly used cocaine, hallucinogens, heroin and inhalants combined, the release stated.
The same study also indicated that more than 70 percent of people abusing prescription pain relievers got them from friends or relatives, a statistic that includes raiding the family medicine cabinet. Medicines left unused in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse and abuse, the release stated.