Forty-three locations throughout Montgomery County will be collecting unwanted, unneeded and expired medications as part of Drug Take Back Day, organized by the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office and the Police Chiefs Association of Montgomery County. The event runs 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, April 27, 2019. While most locations are police departments and municipal buildings, two Wegmans and two Giant Food Stores are also participating by serving as drop-off locations. All locations are staffed by police officers.
This spring’s Take Back Day—which coincides with the DEA’s nationwide Take Back Day—is a chance for Montgomery County residents to clean out their medicine cabinets of unwanted, unused and expired prescription medications and dispose of them easily in a safe, environmentally friendly way. Ridding medicine cabinets of these medications is an important step in combatting the opioid and heroin epidemic, which often begins with prescription medicines taken from a home medicine cabinet. It is also a way to make sure our water supply remains safe and healthy by keeping unwanted medicines from being flushed into the water supply or disposed of through trash collections.
“Last fall, we collected a record 9,056 pounds of prescriptions and over-the-counter medications—an amount that even surprises me,” said District Attorney Kevin Steele. “But it means that Montgomery County residents are getting the message: make your home safer by getting rid of unneeded medicines. Collecting unwanted medications is just one way the District Attorney’s Office and the law enforcement community in Montgomery County are working together to combat drugs and decrease overdose deaths.”
Among the participating sites in our location are:
- Abington Township Police Department, 1166 Old York Rd., Abington
- Cheltenham Township Police Department, 8230 Old York Rd., Elkins Park
- Jenkintown Borough Police Department, 700 Summit Ave., Jenkintown
Take Back Day locations will accept prescription and over-the-counter tablets and capsules, inhalers, creams and ointments, nasal sprays and pet medications. Not accepted are liquid medications, intravenous and injectable solutions and needles. Prescription medicines can be in their original prescription bottles with the label removed/blacked out or can be placed in zippered plastic bags.
Since the Take Back program began in 2010, more than 60,000 pounds of medicines have been collected and safely disposed of. The last two Take Back Days have continued to set new records: On Oct. 27, more than 9,000 pounds (9,056) were collected and on April 28, 2018, nearly 8,000 pounds (7,981 pounds) were collected for a record total of 17,037 pounds in one year.
Beyond Take Back Day, unwanted medications can be dropped off and disposed of throughout the year at more than 50 permanent prescription drug disposal boxes, some of which were sponsored by the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association and some by Pennsylvania American Water in an effort to help keep our water supply safe.
The complete list of participating locations for the upcoming Take Back Day as well as the permanent MedReturn box locations can be found on the District Attorney’s Office website at www.montcopa.org/da.