Utah Sites Offer Safe Disposal of Unused Prescription Drugs | News, sports, jobs

MountainStar Healthcare and local law enforcement agencies will hold the annual Crush the Crisis event Saturday – to coincide with National Prescription Drug Day – with the goal of encouraging as many people as possible to take their leftover or expired prescription medications to one of the drug delivery locations by whole country.

The focus of this year’s event is to raise awareness about the dangers of prescription drug abuse and the importance of safe and proper disposal of unused or expired medications.

While deaths from drug overdoses are declining in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that drug-related deaths are increasing in Utah and other Western states.

In 2023, Utah experienced an 8.08% increase in drug deaths. Fentanyl is responsible for half of those deaths and is 50 to 100 times more powerful than morphine.

“The drug overdose epidemic continues to impact communities across the country and here in Utah,” said Janet Zarndt, vice president of pharmacy services for the MountainStar health system, which serves more than one million patient interactions in Utah. “As part of our commitment to serving the people of Utah, we are proud to provide people with a safe way to remove unused and expired medications from their homes.

A National Survey on Drug Use and Health study found that in 2022, 8.5 million people abused prescription painkillers, 4.8 million prescription tranquilizers or sedatives and 4.3 million prescription stimulants, it found from the latest available figures. The study also found that most of these misused medications came from the medicine cabinets of family and friends.

Most medications are accepted, with the exception of illegal drugs. Needles, syringes and lancets are also not accepted.

To ensure the safe and proper disposal of your medications, seven of the eight MountainStar hospitals offer delivery locations. These include Ogden Regional Medical Center, Mountain View Hospital (Payson), Cache Valley Hospital (Logan), Lone Peak Hospital (Draper), Timpanogos Regional Hospital (Orem) and St. Mark’s Hospital (Millcreek).

In addition, three of MountainStar’s six freestanding emergency centers will also participate, in Pleasant View, Syracuse and Herriman.

Other locations in Utah will also offer opportunities to safely dispose of unused medications through National Take Back Day, a program of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. A list of participating locations can be found online at https://www.dea.gov/takebackday#collection-locator.