Philadelphia Fire Houses Assist In Drug Take Back Day
By Kim Glovas
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- Saturday was National Prescription Drug Take Back Day across the country, and in Philadelphia every fire house helped in the effort.
The take back was conducted from 10am to 2pm Saturday.
Chief Michael Richey, public information officer with the Philadelphia Fire Department, explains how it was carried out:
"The drop off was conducted by the fire administration building dispersing boxes to each fire house where we can give the residents the opportunity to empty their medicine cabinets from the prescriptions they were administered throughout the year."
Plus, Richey adds, it also keeps prescription drugs out of the water supply, since many people flush their medicines to get rid of them.
He says the fire department will have a better idea of how much was collected on Monday.
The take back program was started about three years ago by the US Drug Enforcement Agency. Since then, hundreds of thousands of pounds of prescription drugs have been collected and burned.
