October 28, 2019
By: Dwayne Page
More than 46 pounds of unwanted, out of date, or no longer needed prescriptions were collected for disposal Saturday in DeKalb County during the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day.
Lisa Cripps, local Coordinator of the DeKalb Prevention Coalition, said 30 pounds of prescription drugs and controlled substances were collected in Smithville and 16.4 pounds in Alexandria.
The event was sponsored by the DeKalb Prevention Coalition and supported by the DeKalb County Health Department, DeKalb County Coordinated School Health, and local law enforcement officers and constables.
“Take-Back Days in April and October each year are a safe and easy way to protect your loved ones and to get these drugs out of your home,” added Cripps.
“The reason we do this is because we have found when we work with recovery groups is that a lot of their abuse of medications started from them taking it out of their grandparents’ house or their own medicine cabinets,” said Cripps.
“We advocate Count It, Lock It, Drop It. Count your medications and keep them locked up. You can come by the coalition office at the county complex and pick up a lock box. They are free. You can lock up your medications in these lock boxes,” added Cripps.
“Remember that if your medications are unused, out of date or unwanted you can drop them off in one of our local drop boxes. If you missed Saturday’s take-back event, the county has drop boxes at the City Hall in Alexandria and City Hall in Smithville that are open Monday through Friday each week,” Cripps said.