MPD to collect unused, expired prescription drugs at Kroger locations Oct. 26

Twice a year, law enforcement agencies across the country participate in National Drug Take Back Day. The next one is set for Oct. 26.
“It is important to offer these opportunities for citizens to legally and properly dispose of any unwanted medication,” Morgantown Police Chief Ed Preston said. “Non-medical use of prescription drugs is the second most common form of drug abuse in America, behind only marijuana. Most teenagers that abuse prescription drugs get them from family, friends and the medicine cabinet.”
According to the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 9.9 million Americans misused controlled prescription drugs.
The MPD will have officers at Kroger locations on Patteson Drive and Earl L. Core Road to collect unused, expired and unwanted medications.
Throwing prescription drugs away, rather than disposing of them properly, can lead to them being retrieved and abused or sold, Preston said, while flushing them can contaminate the water supply.
National Drug Take Back Day was started by the Drug Enforcement Agency.
Each take back day has been bigger than the last since May 2016, according to data from the DEA.
In May 2016, 4,262 law enforcement agencies collected 447 tons of drugs at 5,539 sites. The most recent take back day, in April, involved 4,969 law enforcement agencies manning 6,258 collection sites. It brought in 468.72 tons of drugs.
At the end of the day,
the DEA gathers the collection boxes and takes them to a disposal facility, Preston said.