Question: Isn’t there usually a prescription drug event in October? I read about the gun buyback and shredding but haven’t heard anything about medication disposal.
Answer: Yes. The National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is set for Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Oahu, Maui, Kauai and Hawaii island, according to the state Department of the Attorney General. “National Take Back Initiatives are conducted twice a year and are free and anonymous services to the public — no questions asked. Tablets, capsules, liquids, and other forms of medication will be accepted. Everything can be kept in its original container. No labels need to be removed. Vaping devices will also be accepted, but batteries must be removed. New or used syringes will not be accepted,” the department said in a news release.
Most collection sites will be set up as drive-thrus. Here are the locations:
Oahu
>> Kailua fire station parking lot, 211 Kuulei Road
>> State Capitol drive-thru along Beretania, 415 S. Beretania St.
>> Pearl City police station parking lot, 1100 Waimano Home Road
>> Times Supermarkets Kahala parking lot, 1173 21st Ave.
Kauai
>> Kauai Police Department parking lot, 3990 Kaana St., Lihue
Maui
>> Maui Police Department parking lot, 55 Mahalani St., Wailuku
Hawaii island
>> Kona police station parking lot, 74-611 Hale Maka‘i Place
>> Ka Waena Lapa‘au Medical Complex, upper parking lot at corner of Ponahawai and Komohana streets in Hilo
Turning in unneeded medication for proper disposal reduces the risk that it will enter the water supply or harm marine life, and prevents prescription drugs from being misused, purposely or by accident.
For more information, see dea.gov/takebackday or ag.hawaii.gov.
As for the other, separate events you mentioned, the gun disposal event was Saturday and the document shredding is this Saturday, by reservation only.
Q: For the past two mornings, I have received a text supposedly from the U.S. Census Bureau asking me to fill out a survey. I have not opened it, so do not know the extent of questions asked, but it sounds like an ideal way for a scammer to find out people’s ages, and if they live alone. I am a good citizen and would be happy to help out an essential government agency. But I don’t want to risk giving a scammer any information.
A: The legitimate U.S. Census Household Pulse Survey is collecting data now and does contact people by text message. However, scammers also know this and may try to impersonate the agency. You are wise to verify any contact; the Census Bureau posts detailed information on its website (census.gov) about how to do so. The agency said individuals selected at random to participate in the Household Pulse Survey will receive a text message from 39242* or an email from survey@census.gov.
The link to the survey will include “survey.census.gov” in the URL, it says. Anyone who does not respond to the initial request to take the survey may receive up to three reminders, the Census Bureau says.
Data collection for Phase 3.10 of this online survey started Aug. 23 and is scheduled to continue through Oct. 30. The survey collects information about how the COVID-19 pandemic and other “emergent issues” impact U.S. households “from a social and economic perspective,” the Census Bureau says on its website.
Mahalo
I’d like to say “thank you” to the family I see bicycling around the government district downtown, near Honolulu Hale and farther down to the state Capitol. The parents are teaching their children good bicycling etiquette and I admire their courage in getting their kids involved at a young age. Traffic can be intimidating but it’s usually lighter on the weekends when I see them. A lot of people talk about sustainability but these folks are walking the walk, or, I should say, “pedaling the bike.” — A reader
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
