(KCBS Radio) - Law enforcement officials say vaping can be just as dangerous as prescription painkillers, which is why they are encouraging people to drop off vaping products during this Saturday’s National Drug Take Back Day.
The national effort has traditionally been used to safely collect and dispose of expired or unused prescription medication that is no longer needed.
“We will take anything you want to bring to our table that has a narcotic capacity – and vaping devices as you know do have a narcotic capacity because of the nicotine,” says California Attorney General Xavier Becerra. The FDA says vaping can be just as dangerous as misusing prescription drugs.
Vaping products, like other drugs, will be accepted "no questions asked," but officials ask that people remove lithium ion batteries from devices before turning them in.
Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley says while people might not think of old medication as dangerous, properly disposing of drugs has noticeable benefits on public health.
“What we’ve seen here in the Tri-Valley are youth that go into medicine cabinets and find drugs that they believe are going to help them change and alter their consciousness – and in fact some of those are very addictive drugs,” says O’Malley.
And according to Alameda County Sheriff Greg Ahern, that also relieves pressure on the criminal justice system.
“The complexity of these issues leads us to overpopulated jails, overpopulated courts by people being prosecuted – so if we can address them at the early stages we can spend our resources in other, more needed areas to make our community safe.”