National Take Back Day Provides Safe Option For Prescription Drug Disposal

It’s spring-cleaning season, and Saturday is the perfect time to take a look through your medicine cabinet.  

People can drop off medications that are no longer being used at dozens of National Prescription Drug Take Back Day locations across the state. 

Coordinated by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the biannual event provides the opportunity for the safe disposal of drugs that might be around your home. 

“it’s just an opportunity for community members to get any sort of expired or unwanted or unused medications and take them to drop off sites,” Jacob Workman of the Monongalia County Health Department said. “These are designated drop off sites, and they can effectively and safely dispose of their medication there.” 

The DEA provides a lookup tool on their website to quickly find drop off sites using a ZIP code, county or city name.  

According to DEA statistics, more than 4,000 pounds of medication were collected in West Virginia alone during the most recent Take Back Day in October. 

Workman said unused prescription drugs can not only be harmful if taken outside of their intended use, but also if improperly disposed. 

“When people sort of handle your trash, they’re not privy to what’s in your trash,” he said. “Also whenever you do flush it down the toilet, there has been a little bit of evidence that these medications can reach water systems and then could impact the ecosystem connected to those water systems.” 

Any prescriptions that might be expired or not in use anymore are good candidates for Take Back Day, but Workman said there is one drug that should always be present in many West Virginia homes. 

“A good rule of thumb and a good recommendation whenever you have prescribed any sort of opioid, we always recommend to keep Narcan or naloxone on hand,” he said. “This is a lifesaving medication that if somebody does experience an opioid overdose due to any sort of reason, you can use the Narcan to potentially save their life.”