Prescription drug use is a public health and safety crisis across Georgia. Accessibility is the number one contributing factor to all misuse and abuse of prescription drugs and over the counter drugs. The number one action that all adults can take to address the misuse or abuse of prescription drugs is to "lock up" RX and OTC medications so that only the people that are supposed to use them "use them".
Consider this, because of the ease of access:
- Pharmaceutical drug overdoses in the US have surpassed all illegal drug overdoses of methamphetamines, heroin, and cocaine combined.
- 90% of all teens who abuse pharmaceutical drugs obtain their drugs from their home medicine cabinet or from a friend's medicine cabinet.
Because of this data, the Toombs County Sheriff's Department took part in the National DEA Drug Take Back Day on Saturday, April 27, 2024 and collected 65.9 lbs of unused and expired medications. In case you missed the opportunity, please feel free to drop off your unused or expired medications anytime during the work week (Monday - Friday 8 am - 5 pm) at the Toombs County Sheriff's Department or the Vidalia Police Department.
