North Olympic Peninsula residents can take their potentially dangerous expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs to sites for law enforcement to dispose of them on Saturday, the annual Drug Take Back Day.
Clallam County residents can drop off pills for disposal from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Sequim Civic Center, 152 W. Cedar St., or at the Clallam County Courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St., Port Angeles. Staff and volunteers will be on location to accept the items. The Sequim Police Department also will accept illegal drugs for destruction.
In Jefferson County will be a drive-through for Drug Take Back Day from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Port Hadlock QFC, 1890 Irondale Road.
The anonymous collection service will include both controlled and non-controlled prescription drugs as well as over-the-counter medications. Individuals may also drop off vaping pens without the internal batteries for destruction.
Sites cannot accept liquids, needles or sharps, only pills or patches. Syringes and medical waste will not be accepted.
Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse and abuse, law enforcement officials say.
The FDA also provides information on how to properly dispose of prescription drugs at fda.gov.
This April’s event is DEA’s 20th nationwide event since it began 11 years ago. Last fall, Americans turned in 985,392 pounds of prescription drugs at 4,587 collection sites.
The DEA, along with its law enforcement partners, has now collected nearly 6,842 tons of expired, unused and unwanted prescription medications since the inception of the National Prescription Drug Take Back Initiative in 2010.
For more information, see https://takebackday.dea.gov.
