Clemson City Police Department announces new permanent
Prescription Drug Take Back Box Location
Clemson, SC —South Carolina is experiencing an evolving opioid crisis that is effecting everyone. In South Carolina, opioid-related deaths increased 21 percent from 2014 to 2016. Over the past three years, opioid-related deaths have outpaced homicides and drunken driving deaths by nearly double.
Clemson City Police Department is dedicated to reducing/preventing opioid-related incidents (including, but not limited to, overdoses, suicides, assaults and driving under the influence cases) and is dedicated to getting drugs safely out of our community.
Clemson City Police Department aims to provide a safe, convenient, and responsible means of disposing of prescription drugs, while also educating the public about the potential for abuse of medications. In order to reach this goal, CCPD purchased a Drug Take Back Box that is now housed within the Clemson City Police Department at 1198 Tiger Boulevard.
This Drug Take Back Box was purchased with grant funding awarded to the Department through The Lieutenant Governor’s Office on Aging.
All residents are invited to bring in unused or expired medications and place them in the Drug Take Back Box. The medications will be secured at the Police Department and properly destroyed to ensure that they do not fall into the wrong hands.
The City of Clemson will continue to participate in the National Pill Take Back Day(s) throughout the year.
WHY CITIZENS SHOULD PROPERLY DISPOSE OF UNWANTED PRESCRIPTIONS
- Prescription drugs involved in overdoses are almost all originally prescribed by physicians
- In the past 10 years, prescription drug abuse has quadrupled
- 2 percent of 12th graders have misused or abused prescription narcotics, five percent tranquilizers, and 10 percent stimulants (e.g. Adderall and Ritalin).
- Improper disposal of prescription drugs can create environmental hazards impacting groundwater, rivers, and harming wildlife.
HOW TO PREPARE ITEMS FOR DISPOSAL
- All pharmaceutical drugs to be disposed must be placed in a sealed container such as the original bottle or zip-lock bag
- Personal information should be removed or marked out with a permanent marker
CAN DISPOSE OF:
- Prescription and over-the-counter solid medications
- Tablets and capsules
- Prescription samples
- Pet medicines
YOU MAY NOT DROP OFF:
- Intravenous solutions
- Injectables, syringes, and needles (i.e. EpiPens)*; these need to be taken to a health care professional's office or to a hospital for disposal
- Hydrogen peroxide
- Compressed cylinders or aerosols (e.g., asthma inhalers)
- Iodine-containing medications
- Thermometers
- Alcohol & illicit drugs (i.e. marijuana, heroin, LSD, etc.)