Seeking to curtail drug abuse, especially by young people, public officials and community groups in Bucks County and around the Philadelphia area are targeting unused and out-of-date prescriptions.

“If you have drugs of abuse – oxycontin,  another one of the potent painkillers – and you have teenagers in your home, you have a potentially lethal combination,” Bucks County District Attorney David Heckler said Wednesday.

 “We hear cases … particularly with the pain killers and depressants, that kids get hooked on things like oxycontin,” which leads to getting hooked on heroin, he said.

To encourage the safe disposal of prescription drugs, Bucks on Wednesday positioned its 15^th permanent collection box, this one at the county Courthouse. The others are in police stations.

“It’s critical we get drugs of abuse off of shelves and into the boxes,” Heckman said at the regular county commissioners meeting.

Bucks has been a leader with the permanent boxes and in collecting prescriptions during national one-day events, saidMelanie Swanson, prevention specialist for the Council of Southeast Pennsylvania. The third National Prescription Drug Take Back is scheduled for Oct. 29, with 45 drop-off spots around the county and more than 380 throughout Pennsylvania and Delaware.  

Bucks collected 850.6 pounds of drugs at the first collection scheduled by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration,  the largest total in the state, Swanson said. More than a ton, 2,115 pounds, were collected at the second event, in April, ranking second to Allegheny County.

In addition, Bucks is unique in providing home pick-up of unwanted medications from shut-ins, Swanson said. And take-back programs recently were started at flu-shot clinics. 

Chester and Montgomery counties each collected more than 1,000 pounds at the April event, families advocate Casey Jones said in a press release. Delaware County collected more that 1,000 pounds in the past two events.

“The abuse of pharmaceuticals is the second most abjused drug – only marijuana ranks higher,” Vito S. Guarino, acting special agent of the DEA’s Philadelphia Division, said in a written statement. “In 2010, 2.5 times more people abused prescriptions than cocaine, hallucinogens, heroin and inhalants combined.

“Last year, 2.4 million people 12 and older abused presecriptions for the first time,” with 1.9 million becoming dependent,  Guarino said.

Safe disposal of the drugs is also important, said Swanson of the Council of Southeast Pennsylvania. Drugs that are flushed down the toilet can make their way into the water suppy, especially in rural areas that have wells, she said.

The collected drugs are incinerated, Swanson said.

On Oct. 29, there will be 24 collection sites in Philadelphia: Drexel University Recreation Center, Port Richmond Pharmacy, Health Care Center Number 3, the Trinity Center for Urban Health, and 20 fire stations.

For more information  and to find the closest drop-off spot, call 215-238-5160 or go to www.DEA.gov, click on “October 29, 2011” next to the “Got Drugs” banner, click on “Find a collection site near you,” and enter your zip code.

  In New Jersey, many communities will also participate in the American Medicine Chest Challenge(www.americanmedicinechest.com) on Nov. 12. 

In Bucks, the 15 permanent collection boxes for prescription and over-the counter drugs, vitamins, samples, and pet medication are at the county courthouse and these police departments:

• Bensalem Township
• Doylestown Township
• Hilltown Township
• Lower Southampton Township
• New Britain Township
• Newtown Township
• Northampton Township (24 hours)
• Plumstead Township
• Quakertown Borough
• Richland Township
• Springfield Township
• Upper Southampton
• Upper Makefield
• Warwick Township

Inquirer staff writers Kathleen Brady Shea, Bonnie Cook, Mari Schaefer and Cynthia Henry contributed to this post.