Crime & Safety

Operation Medicine Cabinet to be Held at Valrico Sweetbay Saturday

Florida Statewide Prescription Drug Take-Back Day takes place Aug. 27.

It's time to clean out those medicine cabinets overflowing with prescription drugs you no longer need.

The Hillsborough County Anti-Drug Alliance, law enforcement officials, and Sweetbay Supermarkets are again teaming up with Attorney General Pam Bondi to remove unused or expired medications from the home and safely dispose of them.

As part of the ongoing effort to crack down on illegal pill mills and prevent prescription drug abuse, the anti-drug alliance is taking part in the Florida Statewide Prescription Drug Take-Back Day. On Aug. 27, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and the Tampa Police Department will collect unused or expired prescription medications from residents to prevent potentially dangerous drugs from getting into the wrong hands and help keep the environment clean.

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The Hillsborough County Anti-Drug Alliance supports this take-back initiative and will provide volunteers and free educational materials at the collection sites.

The prescription drugs and over-the-counter medications will be collected at two Sweetbay locations on Saturday, Aug. 27 from 10 a.m.  to 2 p.m. Residents will be able to drop off any prescription medications they no longer use and can remain anonymous, with no questions asked.

Attorney General Pam Bondi will attend the event at the Tampa Sweetbay located at 2525 N. Dale Mabry Highway at 10 a.m. and will speak about the importance of the take back as part of the state’s ongoing efforts to stop the epidemic of prescription drug abuse in Florida.

Find out what's happening in Bloomingdale-Riverviewwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The 2010 Florida Medical Examiners Commission Report on Drugs Identified in Deceased Persons released earlier this month examined more than 9,000 drug-related deaths in the state last year and found that 5,647 people died with one or more prescription drugs in their system; 2,710 individuals died with at least one prescription drug identified as the cause of death, which means that an average of 7 persons die each day from prescription drug overdose. Prescription drug-related deaths in Florida increased 9 percent between 2009 and 2010, evidence that the epidemic is growing.

In Hillsborough County, prescription drug -related deaths continued to rise. According to the 2010 Florida Medical Examiners Commission Report, 141 people in Hillsborough County died from a drug overdose involving Oxycodone in 2010, up from 128 in 2009, an increase of 10 percent. Oxycodone killed nearly five times as many people as the illegal drug cocaine.

On Aug. 27, residents are encouraged to help fight against prescription drug abuse by emptying their medicine cabinets of unwanted medications and bringing them to the collection sites below:

Collection Sites:

Sponsored by Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office:
Sweetbay Supermarket, 2535 State Road 60 E., Valrico, FL 33594

Sponsored by Tampa Police Department:
Sweetbay Supermarket, 2525 N. Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa, FL 33607

The Hillsborough County Anti-Drug Alliance is a community coalition dedicated to strengthening substance abuse prevention and treatment efforts through advocacy, collaboration and coordination with all segments of the community. For further information, call Ellen Snelling 813-731-2696


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