TITLE
Recommendation to request City Attorney to draft a resolution in support of the Drug Enforcement Agency's semi-annual national prescription drug take back events and supporting the availability and use of prescription drug drop-boxes, in multiple languages, across the City.
DISCUSSION
The safe disposal of unused or expired prescription drugs, including opioid pain relievers, reduces the risk of nonmedical use that might lead to drug abuse. The misuse of and addiction to opioids is a serious national crisis according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
The National Survey on Drug Use found that more than 54.4 million people in the United States had misused prescription drugs for nonmedical reasons in 2014. Los Angeles County coroner data shows that prescription opioids were involved in about 60% of all drug related deaths from 2006 to 2012 in LA County. Cambodian Association of America conducted a survey in 2017 and found that 45% of Long Beach residents reported that it is "not difficult" for youth living in Long Beach to get prescription drugs not prescribed to them. 49% of Long Beach residents reported they did not know that the City has disposal locations to drop-off unused prescription drugs.
Medications flushed down the toilet or in drains pass through the sewer system and eventually enter our oceans and water systems which can lead to increased bacterial resistance to antibiotics and interference with growth and reproduction in aquatic organisms. In order to minimize the potential negative and irreversible impacts to our oceans and waterways, it is important that we discourage the disposal of waste medications in the sewer. A critical component of a comprehensive public health approach to addressing drug abuse is the safe disposal of unused prescription drugs.
On Saturday, April 28, 2018, Long Beach Police Department in conjunction with Long Beach Memorial Medical Center is hosting a Take Back Pharmacy event. The event collects expired ph...
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