Scott County Taking Back Unwanted Prescription Drugs

April 28 at Walmart

[SCOTTSBURG, IND] – On Saturday, April 28, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. the Scott County Partnership and the Drug Enforcement Administration, in partnership with the Scottsburg Police Department and the Scott County Sheriffs’ Department, is sponsoring a Drug Take Back Day that will give the public its 15th opportunity in 8 years to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs.

Bring your medications for disposal to the Scottsburg Walmart at 1618 W. McClain Ave., Scottsburg, IN. We accept all prescriptions, over-the-counter medications, vitamins, liquids, and will also have a sharps container on site. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

Last October, Americans nationwide did their part to reduce the opioid crisis by bringing the DEA and its more than 4,200 law enforcement partners a record-setting 912,305 pounds—456 tons—of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs for disposal at more than 5,300 collection sites. That is almost six tons more than was collected at the April 2017 event. This brings the total amount of prescription drugs collected by DEA since the fall of 2010 to 9,015,668 pounds, or 4,508 tons.

This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. In addition, Americans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines—flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash—both pose potential safety and health hazards.

For more information about the disposal of prescription drugs or about the April 28 Take Back Day event, go to the DEA Diversion website or contact LeAnn Walker at the Scott County Partnership at (812) 752-0980.