Editor's note: the following was submitted by Brown County Sheriff John Merchant
I would like to inform county residents that Saturday April 30th is "National Take Back Day." This is a national event to garner support of the public to clean out their medicine chest of unused, unwanted or expired medication and to provide safe and secure local drop off points.
The Brown County Sheriffs office has been a part of this very worthwhile program since the program was established in 2010. Since that time, more than 5,525,021 pounds of unwanted, unused or expired medications have been turned in for destruction nationwide.
By statistic, more than 46,000 Americans die each year from drug-related deaths. According to the 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 6.5 million Americans abused controlled prescription drugs and a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained through family and friends, including from their home medicine cabinets.
We not only participate in this national event, but we are also a 24 hours a day, seven day a week drop off location for these medications. In the past we have had such a positive turn out, I felt a need to provide this service at any time of day or night to provide a way for the public to properly dispose of their medications.
By participating in this event, we at the Sheriffs Office, safely store the acquired medications in a secure holding area and then turn the custody over the to DEA agents for properdisposal, so we encourage the public at any time to bring their medications to us at 709 Utah Street in Hiawatha. Dispatchers are on duty 24 hours a day to accept the medications. We cannot accept needles/syringes or injectable medications. This is a very worthwhile program that I hope is around for many years to come.
To date, we have collected and turned in over 1,000 pounds of these medication in Brown County.
I appreciate everyone's cooperation and encourage the public to check your medicine cabinets and turn in your expired, unwanted or unused prescriptions. "By working together this helps make Brown County a safer place to live and raise a family."
Sheriff John D Merchant
Brown County Sheriff's Office
709 Utah Street
Hiawatha KS 66434
(785) 742-7125
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