National Prescription Drug Take Back Day: Central Texas law enforcement hosts collection sites
LEANDER, Texas - Saturday was National Prescription Drug Take Back Day.
The national initiative allows the community to safely remove unneeded medications from their homes, which helps prevent drug misuse and reduces the risk of opioid addiction.
It’s a day dedicated to encouraging the public to remove unneeded medications from their homes as a means of preventing medication misuse and opioid addiction from ever starting.
"It just kind of collects in a medicine cabinet somewhere. So, this gives them a place to kind of drop it off because we don't want to see them, like I said, in the hands of other people, young kids, or even just people that don't need it, trying to sell it, things like that," said Leander Police Chief Greg Minton.
Also, flushing prescriptions down the toilet or pouring them down the sink is bad for our water.
According to Texas Water Utilities, lots of medications, like antibiotics and hormones, can't be filtered out during treatment, so they end up in our rivers, lakes, and streams.
"Typically, what I guess people have done in the past, especially in the toilet, are throwing them in trash cans, which is not one of the safest ways to dispose of [them]. It's not good for the environment," said Chief Minton.
On Saturday, across central Texas, local law enforcement held collection sites where community members can drop off those unused prescriptions, including one at the Leander Medical Plaza.
St. David’s partnered with the Leander Police Department at a medication drop off site.
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Chief Minton says prescription medication is one of the most abused type of drugs they see out on the street.
"Yes, you'll see the other illicit drugs that are probably in most communities. But it seems like the prescription or pill form, it seems to be the most part of the most that we see," said Chief Minton.
Chief Minton emphasizes that events like these bring the community one step closer to safer streets.
Over in Austin, resident Dora Hall dropped off some unwanted prescriptions. She says the process took just minutes.
"I saw on the news last night there was going to be a drug take back day today. And I try to whenever I have old medicines or expired, I set them aside. And so, I had two small bags collected and I was like, okay, I can get those out of my house now," said Hall.
In Kyle, the Texas Water Utilities partnered with the Kyle Police Department for its event. Earlier this year, Kyle residents properly disposed of 144 pounds of prescription and over-the-counter medications at its drug collection site.
So, what happens next?
"We'll weigh them a certain poundage, we'll go to one of their drop off facilities or they'll have agents that are there, where we weigh them to verify the weight. And then from my understanding, they take them to an incinerating area and we'll incinerate all of them," said Chief Minton.
If you missed the drop-off, there are a number of drop boxes where you can safely dispose of them. Find one near you here.