Saturday, April 24th, is National Drug Takeback Day. Police departments in the region will be collecting old and expired medications for safe disposal. Here’s what you can do to clear out your medicine cabinet.
Lt. Tony Williams, with the Carbondale Police Department, said the event is critical for safe disposal of drugs. Flushing unused prescriptions can contaminate the water supply, while keeping them at home can also be harmful.
“Prescription medications are just a such a really broadly abused thing, and often times it l be family members or friends who develop problems with prescriptions and to have them available in medicine cabinets or other places where people aren’t paying attention, they’re expired, people forget about them, unfortunately they end up falling into the hands of folks who have problems and might abuse them,” Williams said.
Solid medications, including capsules and tablets, can be disposed of during the event, along with patches, inhalers, and vapes with the lithium batteries removed. The police department does not collect any information on people disposing of meds.
The Carbondale Police Department will be collecting medications on April 24th, from 8 am until 4 pm, in their lobby. To find additional sites, go to takebackday.dea.gov.
