News
Find media contact for take back your meds. Read the latest news stories about medicine take-back in our community.
The Olympian, March 13, 2011. State senators dropped the ball when they failed by a single vote last week to approve legislation to launch a statewide medicine take-back program funded by the pharmaceutical companies. Read more...
Q13 Fox News, March 6, 2011. Senator Kline write “When you produce a product that's potentially dangerous, or dangerous to the environment, You have a responsibility to take it back, destroy it, and at least keep it out of environment.” Kline has until Monday night to push for the passage of Senate Bill 5234. It would require the pharmacy industry to devise a plan to safely dispose of drugs. Read more...
Q13 Fox News, February 25, 2011. Rebecca Runyon and Andrew Maggard are still struggling to deal with the loss of their son, Tylor, 5 months ago. The 18-year-old died of a drug overdose in August. At the Washington Poison Center, they get more calls about medication poisoning then anything else. Executive Director Jim Williams said too many of the cases involve teens trying out meds that they know nothing about. Read more...
Thurston County collected 2,100 pounds of unwanted pills last year, but budget cuts could shut down the program. “Even though it’s a great project," said Thurston County Sheriff John Snaza, "I don’t have the monies to continue doing [it.]” Read more...
A bill to create a statewide program for safe disposal of unused prescription and over-the-counter medicines faces a showdown on the Senate floor. “It’s a small cost – no more than $2.5 million a year – but the drug companies don’t want to pay for it,” Shields said. The pharmaceutical companies have staged a determined fight to keep this state from becoming the first with a statewide medicine take-back program. Read more...
Fred Finn representing the 35th District in the Washington State Legilature writes "It's time for drug companies to step up and fund a statewide program for collection, transport, and disposal of unwanted medications. For a couple of pennies per medication sold, every county in our state could have a take-back program in place. We'd be able to clear out our medicine cabinets, protect our environment, let law enforcement focus on public safety, and, most importantly, keep potentially deadly drugs out of the hands of our children." Read more...
EVERY day, unsuspecting Americans open a door to potential killers. It's the door to our medicine cabinet. And the unlikely killers are unused prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) medicines. Jim Williams, executive director of the Washington Poison Center writes "The Washington Legislature should enact legislation to require drug companies to provide a safe system so consumers can dispose of their unused prescription and over-the-counter drugs". Read more...
HB 1370 and SB 5234 would create a statewide drug take-back program that supporters say would help restrict unwanted access to drugs by teens and others who find the drugs in family medicine cabinets and elsewhere. Read more...
Two bills have been introduced in the Legislature that will create a statewide program to collected unused and expired drugs. Among the sponsors of HB 1370 is state Rep. Jim Jacks, D-Vancouver. And SB 5234 counts among its sponsors state Sen. Craig Pridemore, D-Vancouver. They and other lawmakers are encouraged to pass these bills. This action would help address the epidemic of prescription drug abuse and poisonings Read more...
Officers and public health officials tell story after story about kids getting high or overdosing on their parent’s prescription medication, or selling and trading them at school. Adults also misuse and sell prescription medications, and they have become a large part of our state’s criminal drug trade. Read more...
February 3, 2011. Today's hearing before the House Environment Committee, Rep. Kevin Van De Wege discussed why he is pushing House Bill 1370, creating a statewide program for the collection, transportation and disposal of unwanted medications, funded by drug companies. Van De Wege says his proposal is a streamlined, reasonable approach that would have a significant impact on what is becoming a growing problem. Read more...
Supported by law enforcement, prevention groups, businesses, health and medical organizations, on February 3, 2011, the House Environmental Committee held the initial hearing on HB 1370. A statewide bill created to reduce drug abuse, accidental poisoning and medicines in our environment. Read more...
Largely ignored just five years ago, disposal of unused prescription drugs has bubbled to the surface as a significant environmental and public-safety concern. Read more...
San Francisco became the first city in the nation to mandate a drug-disposal program funded by pharmaceutical companies. Pharmaceutical companies will be required to set up, fund and operate a program for people to drop off their unwanted and expired prescription drugs for safe disposal by September 2011. Read more...
Vashon Islanders, in spite of the heavy rains last Saturday, brought 60 pounds of unwanted medicines to a take back held on the Island. Read more...
Clallam County Sheriff Bill Benedict advises on the many simple things that people can do to help prevent prescription drug abuse, including locking up medicines and safely disposing of leftover and expired medicines at a medicine take-back. Do not throw unused prescription pills in the trash or toilet because they could contaminate the water table. Read more...
In response to the dramatic increase in accidents and overdose deaths cause by leftover medicines, many Pierce County law enforcement offices with the support of local health agencies are offering medicine take-back programs. Read more...
Not many places take old, expired prescription drugs. But a week after installing a free drop box to do just that, the Bainbridge Island, WA police know there’s plenty of unwanted medications to go around. Read more...
Children aged 5 years or younger accounted for 68.9 percent of the estimated 100,340 U.S. emergency department visits in 2008 that involved accidental ingestion of prescription medicines and other drugs, says a U.S. government report. Read more...
In the past, unused prescription medications have been thrown in the trash, where drug-seeking criminals might find them, or flushed down the toilet, which can pollute the water supply. Read more...
