Saturday is Prescription Drug Take Back Day

(Radio Iowa) National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is this Saturday from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. The DEA’s Emily Murray says it’s a good time to clear out those unused prescription drugs to make sure they don’t get misused.

“Unfortunately the majority of people who have misused prescription medications in the past — they got those from family members or friends or they stole them out of a medicine cabinet of a family member or friend,” Murray says. “And we know unfortunately that you know two-thirds of teens who have misused pain relievers in the past that a lot of them are getting those prescription medications from family and friends.” She says the take-back event lets you turn in the medication anonymously.

“Some people are fine just tossing their prescription pill bottles into the box or the receptacle. Other people feel a little bit more comfortable putting their prescription medications inside a brown bag and dropping that off,” She says. “This is definitely no questions asked. It’s a very safe and anonymous way to drop off your medications.” She says they will also take back vaping devices and cartridges.

“But the only thing that we asked with that is that you please remove the lithium battery and we may ask you just to show that the battery has been removed before we before you drop that into the receptacle,” Murray says. She says they will not take back sharp items like syringes, or illegal drugs. You can find a site to take back your prescription drugs at TakeBackDay.com.
(By Woody Gottburg, KSCJ, Sioux City)