CHARLESTON — Dozens of locations throughout West Virginia will be open Saturday for prescription drug drop-offs as part of the 16th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day from the Drug Enforcement Administration.
“The reason they came up with this is people did not know what to do with their unused and unwanted pain medication,” said Melvin Patterson, a DEA spokesperson.
“This is a good means in which to dispose of these products.”
Patterson called the re-purposing of prescription medications “one of the more popular ways” people use to abuse pain medications.
“This is something everybody can partake in and it helps all of us,” he said.
On Saturday, Oct. 27, hours for collections of unwanted, unused or expired prescription drugs are from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Participating site locations can be found by entering zip codes or cities on the DEA’s website HERE.
During the last National Drug Take Back Day in April of this year, 4,683 law enforcement agencies from across the U.S. participated with 5,842 total collection sites.
Nearly 70 of the participating agencies were in West Virginia with 104 locations, official records showed.
Nationwide, the total weight of drugs collected was 949,046 pounds or 474.5 tons, according to the DEA. For West Virginia specifically, the drugs collected in April 2018 weighed in at 6,171 pounds.
“Each one we’ve had, we’ve progressively collected more weight,” said Patterson.
In the full 15 National Drug Take Back event series, the total weight of drugs kept from misuse in West Virginia has been 71,805 pounds in West Virginia and 4,982 tons nationally.
“Unused prescription medication sitting in a medicine cabinet is an invitation for abuse or worse,” said Mike Stuart, U.S. attorney for West Virginia’s Southern District, in a statement.
“I urge all West Virginians to be smart and take part in Saturday’s Take Back event to avoid a potential nightmare of abuse or accidental overdose.”
Additionally, there are some locations in West Virginia that collect unused prescription medications all year.
By Shauna Johnson
