Dump Your Drugs: Weekend Take-Back Events Offer Safe Disposal

Be it a handful of Vicodin from last year's root canal or a stockpile of expired medications inherited from the grandparents, you'll have three opportunities this weekend to safely dump these and other prescription drugs littering your medicine cabinet.

Saturday is the Drug Enforcement Administration's fourth National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, during which Americans are encouraged to safely dispose of their unwanted or unused prescriptions through an official collection event. 

In partnership with the Macomb Intermediate School District, Clinton Township Police Department and Macomb County Sheriff's Office, the Chippewa Valley Coalition for Youth and Families and L'Anse Creuse Community Action Coalition will host three collection events between Friday, April 27, and Saturday, April 28.

• at the Senior Expo at the Macomb Intermediate School District, 44001 Garfield Road in Clinton Township
• at the Clinton Township Police Department, 37985 Groesbeck Highway
• Macomb County Sheriff's Office, 43564 Elizabeth Road in Mount Clemens

All prescription medications are fair game, but liquid medications and needles will not be accepted.

Last year's national take-back day collected more than 377,086 pounds of unwanted or expired medications and the last three take-back days combined have removed some 995,185 pounds of medication from circulation in the last 13 months, according to DEA. 

“The amount of prescription drugs turned in by the American public during the past three Take-Back Day events speaks volumes about the need to develop a convenient way to rid homes of unwanted or expired prescription drugs,” writes DEA Administrator Michele M. Leonhart, on the DEA website. “DEA remains hard at work to establish just such a drug disposal process, and will continue to offer take-back opportunities until the proper regulations are in place.”

While many medicines can be thrown away in the household trash or flushed down the toilet, not all medicines can be disposed of in this way. In addition, at-home disposal requires a series of additional precautions be taken so as to reduce the chance that someone may accidentally take the medicine, according to the FDA.

The easiest way to ensure safe disposal is to do so through an organized collection, but if this isn't possible, the FDA recommends you follow these instructions for safe at-home disposal.

For additional questions on this weekend's collections, call 586-723-2360.