CVS/pharmacy renews drug collection program in recognition of National Prescription Drug Take Back Day
WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS/pharmacy announced on Thursday that it is marking National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on Saturday, Sept. 27 by renewing its community donation program to support local drug collection efforts by law enforcement.
In collaboration with The Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, CVS/pharmacy has renewed its Medication Disposal for Safer Communities donation program, through which local police departments nationwide can apply to receive a drug collection unit to help their communities safely dispose of unwanted medications, including controlled substances. Launched last May, the program has awarded drug collection receptacles to more than 230 police departments across the country. New applications for these collection units are now being accepted at cvs.com/safercommunities.
"Police departments across the United States responded to our call for applications to receive a drug collection unit to help keep their communities safe, and we are pleased to renew the program this fall," said Josh Flum, SVP of retail pharmacy at CVS Health. "A permanent drug disposal solution in our local police departments is a tangible symbol of our commitment to preventing prescription drug abuse. We look forward to continuing to partner with our local police through this donation program and through collection events at CVS/pharmacy locations on National Prescription Drug Take Back Day."
"CVS Health is a steadfast sponsor of the Partnership's national Medicine Abuse Project, and our partnership to provide permanent collection sites is yet another example of their commitment to ending teen medicine abuse," added Steve Pasierb, president and CEO of the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids. "This collaboration is already having an impact, adding much-needed and additional collection sites in communities nationwide, reducing the availability of prescription medicines that can be abused. We encourage local law enforcement agencies to apply for collection receptacles and everyone to properly dispose of unwanted medications by taking part in the National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on Saturday, Sept. 27."
National Prescription Drug Take Back Day was established by the Drug Enforcement Administration in 2010 to provide a safe, convenient and responsible means to dispose of prescription drugs, while educating the general public about the potential for abuse of medications. Since its inception, more than 4.1 million pounds of unneeded medications have been collected at National Take Back Day events. To find a nearby Drug Take Back collection site, visit dea.gov and click the "Got Drugs?" icon.
CVS/pharmacy is a long-time supporter of National Prescription Drug Take Back Day and will host drug take back events managed by local law enforcement agencies at nearly 200 CVS/pharmacy locations across the country on Saturday. The company also is in the process of reviewing the new DEA rule effective this October that will increase the options people have to properly dispose of controlled substance medications in order to determine how its pharmacies can participate in the near future.
CVS/pharmacy's Medication Disposal for Safer Communities program and participation in National Prescription Drug Take Back Day are part of CVS Health's ongoing efforts to combat prescription drug abuse. Other efforts include:
CVS Health is the only pharmacy sponsor of the Medicine Abuse Project, a multi-year initiative of the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids with the goal of preventing a half million teenagers from abusing prescription medication by 2017;
Working at the federal and state levels to implement policy changes to curb prescription drug abuse, such as mandatory electronic prescribing of controlled substances and improved prescription drug monitoring programs;
Supporting efforts to expand the availability and distribution of naloxone to prevent opioid overdoses, including state specific programs that allow pharmacists to dispense naloxone without a prescription through a Collaborative Practice Agreement or Standing Order with physicians. All CVS/pharmacy stores in the state of Rhode Island have such an agreement in place and other state programs are expected to be added in the future; and
Ongoing identification of physicians who exhibit extreme patterns of prescribing high-risk drugs such as pain medications and suspending the dispensing of controlled substance prescriptions they write.