Drug Take-Back Breaks Record

Community members had the opportunity to get rid of their unused and expired medications Saturday.

A record number of cars passed through the parking lot of the Zanesville-Muskingum County Health Department for the 5th annual Prescription Drug Take-Back. CEO of Muskingum Behavioral Health, Steve Carell, said they received everything from vitamins to controlled substances.

"We had 200 cars come through today, a vast majority of people who came through, came through with bags and boxes, they didn’t come through with just one or two containers of pills, we had the most sharps, needles that I know we’ve ever had,"Carell said.

Muskingum Behavioral Health, Northside Pharmacy and Genesis Hospital all partnered together in an effort to keep drugs off of the streets. As drug overdose remains the leading cause of death in Ohio, Carell said they put on the event to prevent these drugs from falling into the wrong hands.

"We’re hoping we reduce poisons, because medication can decompose and make people sick, so we want to get that out, most importantly we want to get controlled substances like Oxycontin, codeine, the pain killers out of people’s medicine cabinets, so it’s not diverted for illegal means," Carell said.

If you missed Saturday’s event, you can drop off your unused or expired medications in the lobby of the Muskingum County Jail.