After collecting more than 1,700 tons of expired, unwanted prescription medications over the past four years, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and more than 4,200 national, tribal, and community law enforcement partners will hold another National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on Saturday, Sept. 27.
Americans can take their pills (no liquids or needles) to one of over 5,600 collection sites across the country between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. local time. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.
Here are the Richland County Take Back collection sites:
- Bellville Police Department, 320 Bell St., Bellville
- Butler Police Department, 33 Elm St., Butler
- Mansfield Police Department, drop-off at 1125 National Parkway, Mansfield
- Richland County Sheriff’s Office, 597 Park Ave. East, Mansfield
- Shelby Police Department, 31 Mack Avenue, Shelby
National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, in cooperation with Operation Medicine Cabinet and other collection programs, protect our children, our water and our food supplies, and decrease prescription drug abuse by making it easier for you to dispose of unused or expired medications. This is completely confidential. No personal information is collected. Please remove all prescription labels before arriving at disposal locations.
The public has embraced the opportunity these Take Back Day events provide to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, or unwanted prescription drugs. Last October Americans turned in 324 tons (over 647,000 pounds) of prescription drugs. Since DEA’s first event in September of 2010, the public has surrendered over 3.4 million pounds of pills.
Unused medications in homes create a public health and safety concern, because they are highly susceptible to accidental ingestion, theft, misuse, and abuse. Almost twice as many Americans (6.8 million) currently abuse prescription drugs than the number of those using cocaine, hallucinogens, heroin, and inhalants combined, according to the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. And more Americans died in 2010 from overdoses of prescription medications (22,134, including 16,651 from narcotic painkillers) than from motor vehicle accidents, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Surveys of users have found that the majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet.
The public can find a nearby collection site by visiting www.dea.gov, clicking on the “Got Drugs?” icon, and following the links to a database where they enter their zip code. Or they can call 800-882-9539.
Locally, the Take Back Day is sponsored by the police agencies listed above, Ohio Health MedCentral and Richland Public Health.