OBN, Covanta Energy Celebrate Safe Disposal of Meds - KTUL.com - Tulsa, Oklahoma - News, Weather & Sports

The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics (OBN) and Covanta Energy in Tulsa celebrated their first anniversary of safely collecting and destroying unwanted medications on Friday.

Over the past year, OBN has collected and disposed more than 20,000 pounds of pharmaceutical drugs from permanent drop-off containers around the state.

Since March of 2011, OBN has placed 124 pharmaceutical take-back containers in police and sheriff department lobbies for the public to safely dispose of old, unwanted medications.

OBN Spokesman Mark Woodward stressed the importance of disposing of expired medication.

"Prescription drug abuse is a growing epidemic in Oklahoma," said Woodward. "Old, expired medications left in the home can be targeted by users."

Through OBN's Prescription for Safety Program (Rx4Safety), Covanta provides the safe disposal of medications collected by drug take-back programs, free of charge, to communities nationwide.

Rx4Safety was launched in 2010 as a solution to help communities keep medications out of our nation's waterways and drinking water, as well as to help with the problem of abuse.

To date, Covanta's program has destroyed more than 210,000 pounds of unwanted medications at its Energy-from-Waste facilities nationwide.

The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics has a list of the drop box locations on its web site at www.ok.gov/obndd.