A nationwide effort to get rid of unwanted medications from homes and ensure safe disposal took place during National Drug Take Back Day and Erie County showed up in a big way.
Twice a year, Erie City Hall becomes a convenient drop-off location where residents can safely discard unused or expired prescriptions. The initiative is part of a larger national campaign aimed at preventing misuse of medications.
David Smith, a Sergeant with the Erie Police Department, highlighted the program’s impact and said, “We do pretty well as far as the amount we take back to the DEA. We do it twice a year, of course it’s a national event so we are happy to partake.”
The event gives people an easy and responsible way to clean out their medicine cabinets and dispose of medications safely. Once collected, all items are turned over for proper handling. According to Smith, “We will take them to the Drug Enforcement Agency and then they will dispose of them properly.”
Community partners also played a key role. UPMC Western Behavioral Health at Safe Harbor had staff at Saturday’s event who provided helpful resources, including at-home disposal kits for those who couldn’t bring medications to the event. If people forgot any medications or prescriptions that they couldn’t properly dispose of, there was also different kits people could bring home and dispose of in the safety of their own home.
Zach Cathcrat of UPMC Western Behavioral Health explained how the kits work, “They are bags that you can rip open the top, you can put pills, liquids or patches in and there’s directions on the back. They hold 45 or 90 pills depending on the size. It’s super easy, you just add water, put the pills in and it makes the substance inert and then you can just put it in the garbage.”
Officials said that these events are essential for preventing medications from being misused or falling into the wrong hands. “It’s not uncommon for medications to go in the garbage and stockpiled and you forget what’s in the cabinet and what’s there and when those things happen we just want to make sure there’s a safe way for them to be disposed and they are not falling into the wrong hands and they are not potentially being misused and it’s a great way to get rid of clutter”, said Cathcart.
In addition to City Hall, the Erie VA and UPMC Hamot also offered drop boxes for safe disposal. If someone missed this event, many local pharmacies provide year-round drop boxes, making it easy to safely get rid of old prescriptions.