(CONTRIBUTED)

MADISON COUNTY – National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day on April 27 will allow residents to turn in unused, unwanted or expired prescription drugs and thus eliminate dangerous threats from the medicine cabinet.

Madison Police Department is teaming up with the national Drug Enforcement Agency and the local Partnership for a Drug-Free Community to collect the medications for safe disposal. Take-Back Day protects children and the environment from hazardous chemicals.

On April 27, Madison police officers will collect medications from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at City Hall, 100 Hughes Road. In Huntsville, the partnership will collect at the Jaycees Building, 2180 Airport Road. Collections are confidential.

Research by Dr. Lawrence Robey, Madison County Public Health Officer, documents the severity of prescription drug abuse and its threat to public health. In recent years, poisoning has killed more people than car accidents or firearm injuries.

Robey found that overdoses and drug-related injuries killed approximately 37,485 individuals in 2009 — 1,201 more deaths than traffic fatalities. Few people secure their medicines appropriately, giving easy access to children. Medication poisoning for children is twice as common as other household products.

Medications that often are abused fall into three categories: opiods, like Vicodin and codeine; benzodiazepines (or ‘benzos’), like Xanax and Valium; and amphetamine-like prescriptions, like Adderall.

This year, the Partnership for a Drug-Free Community is celebrating its 25th anniversary. “Partnership has been committed to the prevention of youth substance abuse in the Huntsville/Madison community since 1988,” executive director Deborah Soule said. Together, through education and cooperation we can create a better and safer community for our children and our future.”

To celebrate the anniversary, Partnership Fun Day on June 7 will be held at the Jaycees Building. Individual or team sponsorships are available for school classes, small businesses, corporations and civic groups, Soule said. For more information, call 256-539-7339, email to partner@hiwaay.net or visit partnershipforadrug-freecommunity.org.

To contact Madison Police Department, call 256-772-5658.