WOODLAND HILLS—The Los Angeles Police Department, the Betty Ford Center of Los Angeles and Kaiser Permanente (KP) will be allowing the public the opportunity to prevent leftover prescription and expired over the counter drugs from falling into the wrong hands or polluting the environment. According to the LAPD, residents are expected to safely and legally dispose of unwanted chemicals in their medicine cabinet. No sharp needles will be accepted during the event!

The National Prescription Take-Back Initiative will occur on Saturday, October 22 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Participants can drop off their medications at the following locations: Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Medical Center located at 6041 Cadillac Avenue in Los Angeles, California in Parking Lot #3; Kaiser Permanente Panorama City Medical Center located at 13652 Cantara Street in Panorama City, CA 91402 in front of North 3 Medical Office; Kaiser Permanente South Bay Medical Center located at the Parkview Medical Office Building located at 25825 S. Vermont Avenue Harbor City, CA 90710; Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center located at 4760 West Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, CA  90027; Kaiser Permanente Woodland Hills Medical Center located at 5601 De Soto Avenue  Woodland Hills, CA  91367; Betty Ford Center Rite-Aid parking lot located at 11321 National Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90064.

The LAPD and DEA Representatives will be available at each collection site. The goal of the initiative is to provide a safe, convenient, and responsible means of disposing of prescription drugs, while also educating the general public about the potential for abuse of medications. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs.  Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. Americans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines are—flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash—both pose potential safety and health hazards.

The Los Angeles Police Department encourages the public to participate and help remove these unwanted, expired and unneeded prescription drugs from their home and use one of the six collection sites for disposal. On September 26, 2015, Americans turned in 702,365 pounds—350 tons—of prescription drugs at more than 5,000 sites operated by the DEA and state and local law enforcement partners.