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Superior library hosts drug take back event

Daily Telegram - 10/26/2018

Oct. 26--A drug take back event takes place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 26, at Superior Public Library. Bring all unneeded and expired medications -- prescription, over-the-counter, pills and liquid -- to the library to drop them off.

Members of the Superior Police Department will be on hand, along with members of the Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Community Coalition of Douglas County, to help dispose of them.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 115 Americans die every day from opioid overdose, which includes prescription painkillers and illegal drugs like heroin. Drug overdoses are the leading cause of death for Americans under age 50, who are now more likely to die from a drug overdose than from car accidents or firearms, according to the Wisconsin Department of Justice.

A 2016 National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that 6.2 million Americans misused controlled prescription drugs. And the majority of abused prescription drugs were obtained from family and friends, often from the home medicine cabinet.

Leftover medications should never be flushed or poured down the drain. Water reclamation facilities are not designed to remove all of them and trace amounts of pharmaceuticals are showing up in rivers and lakes. Drug take-back events offer safe disposal of medications, a step that can prevent drug addiction and overdose deaths.

Those who can't attend the event can drop off medications weekdays during business hours at a drop box in the Government Center's joint law enforcement office, 1316 N. 14th St.

For more information, visit doseofrealitywi.com or takebackday.dea.gov.

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(c)2018 the Superior Telegram (Superior, Wis.)

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