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SHURTLEFF TO WARN CONGRESS ABOUT DRUG DISPOSAL DANGERS
Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff will testify before Congress on Thursday that the current plan for disposing of pharmaceutical drugs is a prescription for danger to our health and water supply. Shurtleff will be speaking before the House Judiciary Committee's Sub-Committee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security about H.R. 1359-the Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act.
"This is a serious public safety concern of mine and our state," said Shurtleff in his prepared statements. "I am here to speak loudly on our battle against prescription drug abuse but also to address the well known yet unmet challenges of unused pharmaceutical drug disposal, a significant problem not only impacting law enforcement but also our country's public health sector and our environment."
Currently there is not a coordinated federal or state approach to dispose of prescription drugs. Federal policy requires health care providers to dispose of the drugs directly which often means flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash. H.R. 1359 calls for a public-private partnership to coordinate drug disposal and drug take-back programs.
Shurtleff will tell Congress that Utah is also studying a state sponsored and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) approved drug take-back program. The Attorney General will also note that in 2007 a total of 317 Utahns died from a prescription overdose-twice as many deaths from street drugs.
Who: Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff
What: Hearing on secure and responsible drug disposal
When: 10:00 a.m. (EST) Noon (MST) Thursday, June 18, 2009
Where: Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, Rayburn House Building, Room 2141, Washington, D.C.
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