Drug Take Back Event Set For November 8 In Melbourne

By  //  November 5, 2014

Expo part of Space Coast Medicine Week

ABOVE VIDEO: Sheriff Wayne Ivey talks with our children about the dangers of Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Cigarette Smoking.

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BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – The next Brevard County Sheriff’s Office Drug Take Back Event is on Saturday, Nov. 8, from 9 a.m. to 12 noon at the Melbourne Hilton Rialto’s Healthy Living Expo.

This event is part of Space Coast Medicine Week with high profile major medical events coordinated by Maverick Multimedia Inc. and Brevard Production Inc.

This is an opportunity for citizens to safely discard unneeded, unused or expired prescription medications and is a multi-agency effort aimed at addressing the problem of prescription drug abuse while protecting the environment. Citizens may simply stop by during the designated times and drop off their medications for safe collection and disposal.

Medication disposal is quickly becoming an important and alarming issue. What happens to all the prescription or over-the-counter medications that are brought home, but end up unused? Our choices have often been to leave them in the medicine cabinet, throw them in the trash or flush them down the sink or toilet.

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The next Brevard County Sheriff’s Office Drug Take Back Event is on Saturday, November 8, from 9:00 a.m. to 12 noon at the Melbourne Hilton Rialto’s Healthy Living Expo. This event is part of Space Coast Medicine Week with high profile major medical events coordinated by Maverick Multimedia Inc. and Brevard Production Inc.

Please Don’t Keep Un-needed Medications: Keeping old medications in the house can lead to accidents. People sometimes get confused about which drugs to take, or take expired medication which can be ineffective or even dangerous. Children or grandchildren can find the medicine, which could easily lead to overdose, addiction and possibly even death.

Please Don’t Throw Medications Away: Drugs thrown in the trash are a public and environmental safety concern that can wind up in the hands of children, drug users or be consumed by animals. The drugs that make it to the landfill can leach into and the soil and contaminate groundwater. Identity theft can occur from the personal patient information on the medicine containers when discarded.

Please Don’t Flush Medications: Disposing of medications down the sink or toilet is very harmful to the environment. Sewage treatment plants are not designed to remove all drug compounds and chemicals released during the water treatment process. Certain drugs kill beneficial bacteria responsible for breaking down waste and can also damage septic systems.

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Treated water is being introduced into streams, lakes and groundwater and directly affects fish and other aquatic wildlife.

So What Can You Do? You can drop off your unwanted and expired medications with the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office. The medications will then be safely processed and destroyed.

What Can You Drop Off? The Sheriff’s Office will accept all non-prescription over-the-counter medications, prescription medications and even pet medications. You can bring in pills, liquids, ointments and lotions.

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You can leave the medications in the original packaging container or put it in a sealable plastic bag. You can even combine medications in one bag. If you bring in a liquid medication, please put the bottle in a sealable plastic bag to avoid leakage.

No Identification or signatures are required. The effort is designed to educate the public and raise awareness about the problem of prescription drug abuse and improper disposal. The problem has reached epidemic proportions, with prescription drugs as the number one abused drug in the United States, surpassing all other illicit drugs.

Drop-Off Site: Melbourne Hilton Rialto, 200 Rialto Pl, Melbourne, FL 32901

For more information regarding this operation, please contact Lieutenant Brandon Lanza through the Sheriff’s Office Communications Center at 321-633-7162.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey has been a law enforcement officer for over three decades. Sheriff Ivey is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and has a Bachelor’s Degree from Daytona State College in Management and Supervision. Sheriff Ivey’s background in law enforcement is inclusive of Management, Criminal Investigations, Narcotics, Patrol Services, Public Integrity Investigations, and Corrections.

Sheriff Wayne Ivey

Prior to being elected in 2012, Sheriff Ivey served the citizens of the State of Florida as a Resident Agent in Charge for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. As a member of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Sheriff Ivey developed and created the country’s first ever statewide Task Force on Identity Theft.

That same year the Task Force was named one of the top five most innovative programs in the country by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and investigated approximately 44 million dollars in fraud cases. Additionally, as a member of FDLE, Sheriff Ivey created the Child Abduction Response Team (C.A.R.T) that re-defined the way Child Abduction cases are conducted throughout the country today.

Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey has been a law enforcement officer for over three decades. Sheriff Ivey is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and has a Bachelor’s Degree from Daytona State College in Management and Supervision. Sheriff Ivey’s background in law enforcement is inclusive of Management, Criminal Investigations, Narcotics, Patrol Services, Public Integrity Investigations, and Corrections.

The program was later selected as the most innovative program in the country by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and is now used as a nationwide model in the response and investigation of child abductions.

Sheriff Ivey has testified before the United States Congress on law enforcement related matters and has extensive experience in the area of Public Integrity Investigations. Sheriff Ivey was honored as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Special Agent of the Year (1996) and was also recognized by the Commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for his Outstanding Contributions to Criminal Justice. In August of 2011 Sheriff Ivey was honored by the National Organization of Victims Advocacy for his work at the national level as an advocate of victim’s rights and protection.

Sheriff Ivey speaks regularly on topics such as Identity Theft, Crime in America, Human Trafficking, Domestic Violence, and Self Defense through Mental Preparedness. Sheriff Ivey firmly believes that Crime Prevention and Education are vital to reduce our crime rate and protect our community.