Drop-off set up for National Drug Take Back Day

ZANESVILLE, Ohio — The Drug Enforcement Agency is recognizing April 29th as “National Drug Take Back Day.”

A drop-off was organized at the Health Department downtown today from 10-2. The Drug Take Back campaign while beneficial to the environment, more importantly, helps reduce access to drugs for those that may be struggling with addiction.

“What we’re hoping to accomplish is to get some expired or unused medications out of people’s homes and potentially off the streets as well. It helps the environment, one, we’re not getting rid of things in a manner that harm the environment. And two, with some of the issues we’ve had in our society recently with drug addiction, mainly opiates, try and get some of these unused or expired medications out of people’s homes,” said Aaron Searls, Pharmacist at Northside Pharmacy.

The drop-off accepted prescription and over-the-counter tablets, capsules, and liquid dosage as well as intra-venous solutions, injectables, and needles. Illicit substances, such as marijuana and methamphetamine, were not accepted. The program is free and anonymous, as all personal information is removed from containers and destroyed.

For those that may not be aware of whether or not their medication is expired, Searls says most medication is good for up to a year, but if you’re not using it, get rid of it.

“If there’s not an expiration date on the label then most pharmacies, in most dispensing situations, we would assume that you probably have at least a year. But if you’re not sure, or in the other case, if you’re just not using the medication anymore, it’s usually safer to get rid of it, or get it out of the homes so that somebody else doesn’t have access to it,” Searls explained.

If you could not make it to the drop-off today, the Muskingum County Sheriff’s Office has a permanent drop-off located at 28 N. 4th St.