The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is sponsoring the 27th nationwide “Prescription Drug Take Back” initiative Saturday, October 26. The “Take Back” initiative seeks to prevent prescription drug abuse and theft through proper disposal of prescription drugs.
Collection sites will be set up nationwide for expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs which will be properly disposed of without threat to the environment. This program is for liquid and pill medications. Vaping pens without batteries and vaping cartridges will also be taken. Needles, new or used, WILL NOT be accepted for disposal. This service is free and anonymous with no questions asked.
This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet.
In addition, Americans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines—flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash—pose both potential safety and health hazards.
Once again, the Indiana State Police is partnering with the DEA, and as in the past, unwanted medications may be dropped off at any Indiana State Police Post, except for the Toll Road Post. The event will be Saturday, October 26, between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. local time.
Locally, Starke County Sheriff Jack Rosa is partnering with the Hub Coalition of Starke County to have coordinated local drop off points for unwanted and expired prescription medications during the Drug Enforcement Administration’s National Drug Take Back Day from 10 a.m. To 2p.m. CT. Drop off locations will be at the Starke County Sheriff’s Department at 5435 E. State Road 8 in Knox, the Bass Lake-California Township Fire Department at 7225 U.S. 35 in Knox, and the Koontz Lake Fire Station at 7784 State Road 23 in Walkerton.
In Marshall County, Marshall County Sheriff Matthew Hassel announced that the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department officers will be collecting expired, unused, or unwanted prescription drugs in the parking lot of Walgreens Drug Store at 2014 N. Michigan Street in Plymouth.
