Law enforcement agencies across West Virginia will spend part of their Saturday collecting prescription pills. April 27 is National Drug Take Back Day.
The goal is to have the public clean out their medicine cabinets and bring unused or unwanted prescription pills to a drop off site manned by officers.
McDowell County Sheriff’s Deputy Roger Deel says prescription drug abuse is a big problem in his county. That’s why he’s urging everyone to spend a few minutes looking through their medicine cabinet and then find a drop off site.
“[They can] drop off narcotics or non-narcotic drugs as well. We take anything that they want to drop off,” Deel said.
He says its important to keep these pills out of the hands of dealers. He says those with a habit will go to any lengths to get their hands on prescription meds they can ingest or sell.
“People target [the elderly] and go in and steal their medications or if you have someone that is deceased that had a large quantity of medication on hand, they are targets for people to go in and try to steal off of,” Deel said.
Local, county, state and federal officers will be participating in the event. There are dozens of drop-off sites across West Virginia. You can find a spot near you by logging on to www.dea.gov. Law enforcement will get rid of the pills that are collected in an environmentally safe way.
As for McDowell County, Deel says every day is a Drug Take Back Day at their office.
“We have a drop-off box here at the Sheriff’s office for people to come in and drop off at any time through the year,” according to Deel.
But for those who live in counties that don’t provide that option, Saturday is the day to rid yourself of unwanted prescriptions for free.