National Prescription Drug Take Back Day set for Oct. 26

If you have prescription drugs at home that have expired or you no longer need them, you can safely dispose of them Saturday, Oct. 26 on National Prescription Drug Take Back Day.

Local health and public safety officials are encouraging residents to clear their medicine cabinets and turn in medications—no questions asked—to prevent prescription drugs from falling into the wrong hands.

You can drop off unwanted medications from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Oct. 26 at the following locations:

• Fisher Auto Parts parking lot in Staunton (beside Augusta Health Urgent Care, 851 Statler Blvd.)
• Neighborhood Walmart parking lot in Waynesboro, 1211 West Broad St.

Sharps, such as needles, syringes and other medical devices with sharp edges, will not be accepted. The event could end before 2 p.m. if capacity is reached; however, Staunton residents can safely and anonymously dispose of unwanted medications year-round at the CVS Pharmacy located at 1302 Barterbrook Rd.

National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is organized by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and occurs twice a year in the spring and fall. The service is free, and those who turn in drugs remain anonymous.

The DEA reported that the spring Take Back Day brought in 937,443 pounds, or about 469 tons, of unused or expired prescription medication. Since the DEA began the event in the fall of 2010 it has collected more than 11.8 million pounds of medications.

Unused or expired prescription drugs are a public safety issue, leading to potential accidental poisoning, misuse and overdose. Proper disposal of unused drugs saves lives and protects the environment.

More than six million Americans have misused controlled prescription drugs, according to a 2016 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, and the majority of abused medications were obtained from family and friends, often from the home medicine cabinet.

If you know someone who needs treatment for prescription drug abuse, you can locate treatment services in and around Staunton at https://findtreatment.samhsa.gov/locator?sAddr=24401.