Prescription Drug Take Back
ZANESVILLE, Ohio- If you have old prescription drugs you need to get rid of, there will be a prescription drug drop off this weekend.
When prescriptions expire or simply don’t get used, most consumers don’t know what to do with the drugs. This weekend local law enforcement and health agencies are working together to properly, and safely, dispose of unwanted and unused prescriptions.
“People bring in everything from vitamin supplements, over the counter medicine, prescription medicine that is just outdated. As well as the narcotics,” said Steve Carrel of Muskingum Behavioral Health. “The big push is to get the opioids, the pain killing medications out of people’s homes and dispose those so that people who are addicted will not break-in, steal them, or they get into the wrong hand.”
Carrel said people tend to hold on outdated medications for years because they’re unsure what to do with them. He recalls once getting a container from more than a decade ago.
“I think the oldest medicine container … that I’ve seen was 1981. We could just read the date. We couldn’t see what the medication was.”
In addition to medications, people with diabetes that need to dispose of their used needles can also bring those for disposal, but they need to be safely transported to help prevent injuries.
“They should be in a plastic container. I’ve seen them in laundry detergent jugs. I’ve seen them in milk jugs. What we do with them is we put them into a huge sharps container, and then they’re like any other sharps are taken and incinerated. They’re taken care of safely.”
Carrel would like to remind everyone that while they encourage people to drop off drugs, they do not accept illegal drugs such as marijuana or methamphetamines. Based off of past years Carrel expects to have quite a lot of prescriptions dropped off.
“We’ve had up to 20 pounds of pills before that the Drug Enforcement Administration picked up to take it to get it incinerated.”
Also, any personal information on the containers will be destroyed. The drop off will be Saturday at the Zanesville-Muskingum County Health Department from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.. The DEA, Genesis Healthcare System, Northside Pharmacies, the Muskingum County Sheriff’s Office, and the Zanesville-Muskingum County Health Department are all assisting with the drop off.
