In a joint effort by law-enforcement and health-care agencies to reduce pilfering of prescription drugs by area teens, the first Prescription Take Back Day kicks off from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday in Rolla.

Representatives at Pathways Community Behavioral Healthcare, Inc., will gladly accept outdated or unused medications from anyone who is 18 years of age or older, has valid identification and old or unused prescriptions from a licensed pharmacist.

The program’s main goal is to prevent and reduce illicit drug use by youth. Program activists cite national statistics revealing 1-in-5 teens abuse prescription drugs, and 70 percent of them acquire the drugs from friends or family members.

With “Pharm’ Parties” and “pharming” quickly gaining ground among area teens, health professionals and law-enforcement agencies have undertaken a variety of initiatives to combat the problem.

“Decreasing the accessibility of prescription drugs lessens the likelihood that kids will snatch mom’s or dad’s old medications to get high,” said Kendall Bolton, substance-abuse counselor and clinical social worker at Pathways.

Bolton, who has seen and counseled many teens with substance-abuse problems, understands the connection that exists between occasional illicit prescription-drug use and eventual drug addiction.

“Kids build a tolerance to OxyContin and then progress to heroin,” Bolton said.

The types of prescriptions accepted at “take back” locations include pills, prescription inhalers, ointments and patches. The medicines collected will be destroyed in a manner that is safe to the environment.

Shana Stephenson, with Prevention Consultants of Missouri, said many people simply flush their old prescriptions down the toilet; however, the drugs very quickly leach into groundwater systems.

Aside from take-back initiatives, Stephenson said an alternate, although less safe method is used.

“Other than this initiative, we encourage folks to place their unused medicines in a plastic baggie, add coffee grounds, kitty litter or sawdust, and then smash the pills. Seal the bag and throw it away,” Stephenson said.

The Take Bake Program is sponsored by Pathways, Prevention Consultants of Missouri and the Phelps County Sheriff’s Department with technical-assistance funding from the Missouri Department of Mental Health.

Four “take-back” events are slated from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesdays at various locations throughout Phelps County: tomorrow at the Pathways Office, located at 1450 East Tenth St. in Rolla; Nov. 3 at Newburg High School on Wolfpride Drive: Nov. 10 at the St. James High School, and Nov. 17 at Pathways in Rolla.

For more information about the Prescription Take Back Program, contact Pathways at 364-7551 or Prevention Consultants of Missouri at 368-4755.