Don’t need your pills anymore? Police asking for prescription meds on Drug Take-Back Day

Midlands agencies are looking to get a hold of as many prescription drugs as possible this Saturday.

That’s because Saturday is National Drug Take-Back day, where law enforcement and the medical community accept unused prescription medications from the community. The goal is to reduce the risk that someone will get their hands on unused drugs and abuse or sell them.

“Normally what we’re seeing is that Grandma may have some prescription medicine, a kid goes in and takes some of it, and she doesn’t realize it’s been taken,” Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said.

The Drug Enforcement Administration is partnering with several local agencies for the event. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, folks can get rid of prescription meds at the following locations:

• The Richland County Sheriff’s Department at 5623 Two Notch Road
• The Lexington County Sheriff’s Department at 521 Gibson Road
• The Columbia Police Department at 1 Justice Square
• CVS at 5608 Sunset Blvd., organized by the Lexington Police Department
• BILO at 2349 Augusta Road and Medicine Mart at 1300 Sunset Blvd, organized by the West Columbia Police Department

The take-back program allows folks to get rid of drugs in as safe a way as possible, officials said.

“We don’t want people flushing it down sewer lines where it will get in our water system,” Lott said. “We don’t want to put it in the trash where it will end up in a landfill. Environmentally, that’s not safe.”

On a national level, previous drug take-back days have netted more than 500 tons of prescription drugs at more than 5,300 take-back sites, according to a news release.

This story was originally published April 28, 2016 at 4:51 PM with the headline "Don’t need your pills anymore? Police asking for prescription meds on Drug Take-Back Day."