Unused or unwanted prescription medications will be collected during a drug take-back event from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 29, at Walmart in Houston.
Organizers said no signatures are required, and no questions will be asked. The public may simply drop the pharmaceuticals in the collection boxes.
Houston Police Chief Jim McNiell said the event has three purposes:
––The sponsors –– the police department, the Big Piney River Stream Team Watershed Association and the Missouri Rural Water Association –– want to help the public get rid of unwanted prescription medications.
––Law enforcement is always concerned about the potential of drugs getting in the wrong hands by theft or by curious children.
–– There is a need to provide a proper way to dispose of prescription drugs so they do not pollute the water.
National research indicates that 46 million Americans consume water contaminated with prescription and over-the-counter drugs. Missouri was one of 24 states where water samples from underground aquifers were tested and found to contain pharmaceuticals. Some scientists fear that these drugs could be the reason for high occurrences of infertility, early puberty and breast cancer in the U.S. population, among other medical maladies. Other scientists fear the creation of a “super” drug-resistant strain of bacteria.
What is known so far is that fish have developed physical abnormalities in waterways where many of these pharmaceuticals are found. Fish and other aquatic life have been born blind and deaf; some have extra appendages; and others have altered sexual reproductive organs.
Officials say the only proper way to dispose of unused drugs is to incinerate them. The drugs dropped off at the event will be taken to a Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) facility in Illinois for incineration. Since the inception of these Drug Take-Back events during October 2010, nationwide collections have totaled nearly 500 tons (almost one million pounds) of pharmaceuticals.