Alpena County participating in National Prescription Drug Take Back Day
ALPENA, Mich. — While spring cleaning your home this season, don’t forget to look through the medicine cabinet.
This Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Alpena County Sheriff’s office, you can safely and anonymously dispose of leftover or expired prescription medication as part of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) National Prescription Drug Take Back Day.
The DEA and partners are collecting any solid forms of prescription medication and properly disposing of them.
“Drop them off, get them out of your medicine cabinet,” said Alpena County Sheriff Steven Kieliszewski. “That way- you don’t worry about anyone going in there and getting a hold of them.”
According to the 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 9.7 million people misused prescription pain relievers, 4.9 million people misused prescription stimulants, and 5.9 million people misused prescription tranquilizers or sedatives in 2019. The survey also showed that a majority of misused prescription drugs were obtained from family and friends, often from the home medicine cabinet.
Three in five teenagers say prescription pain medication is easy to get from their parents’ medicine cabinet. Every 10 minutes, a child visits the emergency room for medication poisoning.
“The biggest concern is young children getting into them and taking the medication and having some very negative consequences as a result,” Kieliszewski said. Officials will not collect any liquids or needles.
For more information on take-back day, you can visit the DEA’s website or http://michigan-open.org/.
