Round-up to collect unneeded drugs is Oct. 5

Partnership Carson City will hold another prescription drug roundup Oct. 5 to collect expired, unused and unneeded prescription drugs from residents.

In April, the group collected 210 pounds of drugs, Executive Director Kathy Bartosz said. It will have collection points in front of all three Save Mart stores and Smith’s supermarket from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Oct. 5.

Partnership Carson City will accept needles and drug-delivery devices such as EpiPens, Bartosz said.

She said prescription drug use has become a serious problem, especially for young people who don’t understand that many of the drugs are powerful opiates and addictive substances such as hydrocodone, oxycodone and methadone.

Clark County has collected data showing that prescription drug overdoes cause more deaths in Southern Nevada than all other illicit drugs and auto accidents combined, Bartosz said.

“They feel it’s OK to take them because it’s prescribed by a doctor,” she said.

Americans, Bartosz said, take far too many pain drugs. With just 6 percent of the world’s population, she said, the U.S. consumes 80 percent of all opiates and 99 percent of the world’s supply of hydrocodone, the active ingredient in drugs including Vicodin.

She said Partnership Carson City is working with doctors and trying to educate parents and others about the dangers of these drugs. She said the reception from the medical community has been very positive and that she feels parents also are getting the message.

Those who have prescriptions need to understand that, if they don’t need the drug, they should dispose of it, Bartosz said. And that doesn’t mean flushing the pills, because they could contaminate the water supply. She said there is a drop box for drugs in the front of the Sheriff’s Office for those who can’t make it Oct. 5. If nothing else, she said, mix the drugs with cat litter or coffee grounds and put the bag in the trash.