National Prescription Drug Take Back this Saturday

The National Prescription Drug Take Back event will kick off this Saturday, April 26, from 10am to 2pm at the Commonwealth Health Center on Saipan.

At a news briefing on April 11, U.S. Attorney for the Guam and CNMI Districts Alicia Limtiaco said the event aims to strengthen efforts and prevent prescription drug abuse among the youth. It is a national initiative where all jurisdictions and territories of the U.S. come together to encourage community members to dispose of unused or expired prescription drugs and medicines.

“We want members of our community to be aware of the dangers of using expired medications and prescriptions and that it is a public safety, a health safety, and an environmental issues,” she said.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office will be partnering with federal and local agencies to support the National Take Back Initiative this month.

The event will also be held on Tinian and Rota at their respective health centers.

The event, which is part of the National Take Back Initiative, aims to provide a location where people can bring their unused or expired prescription drugs for proper disposal.

Limtiaco noted that they have had good feedback from family members about this opportunity to dispose of old prescribed medications.

U.S. Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration agent-in-charge Michael Puralewski said there would be boxes at all three health centers on Saipan, Tinian, and Rota where the medicines can be dropped.

“Just drop the prescriptions, no questions asked, and there will be officers at each location. You can take any medications from your cabinets that you don’t want and you can dispose of it,” Puralewski said.

Claudine Atalig and Kimberly Baluyut of PHI Pharmacy said that they support this initiative.

“Bring your drugs if you don’t need it anymore,” said Atalig.

Limtiaco also gave out three pieces of advice to the community: “Don’t take somebody else’s medication, dosing of medication should be appropriate for their medication, and expired drugs should not be taken and should be disposed of.”

Office of the Attorney deputy attorney general Gil Birnbrich said that he strongly endorses and supports the campaign.

“We have interest in doing this program to urge the public to take advantage of this program for safer disposal of prescriptions and medications,” Birnbrich said.