​On Saturday, October 26th, law enforcement entities participated in the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) national drug take back day, resulting in 146 lbs. of unused or expired medication collected for disposal. Urbana Police Division in partnership with Kroger, the Champaign County Drug Free Youth Coalition, Mary Rutan Hospital, and the U.S. DEA collected 37 lbs. of expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs. Across the county, the Mechanicsburg Police Department collected 109 lbs. from the villages of Mechanicsburg and North Lewisburg.

If you happened to miss the event, but need to dispose of medication, please visit one of the five local drug drop boxes. Drug drop boxes are located at the Champaign County Sheriff's Office, Mercy Health Urbana Hospital (near emergency room entrance), Urbana Police Department, St. Paris Police Department, and Mechanicsburg Police Department. If you are unable to dispose of medications at a drop box location, or if no disposal instructions are given on the prescription drug labeling, the Drug Enforcement Agency recommends following these simple steps to throw the drugs in the household trash:
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1. Remove the medicine from its original container and mix it with an undesirable substance, such as used coffee grounds or kitty litter.
2. Place the mixture in a sealable bag, empty bag, or other container to prevent medicine from leaking or breaking out of a garbage bag.

Do not flush medicines down the sink or toilet unless the prescription drug labeling or patient information that accompanied the medicine specifically instructs you to do so. Please also ensure you are compliant with your community’s laws and regulations prior to taking such action. For more information, please visit: www.ccfcfc.org/drug-free-youth-coalition

On Saturday, October 26, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. the Bellefontaine Police Department in partnership with Logan County CORE, Mary Rutan Hospital, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will give the public the opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs.

Bring your pills for disposal to the canopy entrance of Mary Rutan Hospital, located at 205 E Palmer Rd. The site cannot accept liquids. Needles/sharps, pills and patches will be accepted. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked. Mary Rutan Hospital is providing sharps disposal at no cost as a community service.

Last fall Americans turned in nearly 469 tons (more than 937,000 pounds) of prescription drugs at nearly 6,300 sites operated by the DEA and almost 5,000 of its state and local law enforcement partners. Overall, in its previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners have taken in more than 11.8 million pounds—approximately 5,900 tons—of pills.

This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the United States are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health shows year after year that the majority of misused and abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including someone else’s medication being stolen from the home medicine cabinet. In addition, Americans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines—flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash—both pose potential safety and health hazards.

For more information about the disposal of prescription drugs or about the October 26 Take Back Day event, go to www.DEATakeBack.com or https://www.logancountycore.com/