Prescription Drug Take-Back Day Set for Oct. 28

Montgomery County residents can safely dispose of expired, unwanted or unused prescriptions on from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, a day set aside as the 14th National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day.

Residents are encouraged to bring in medications containing controlled substances but will accept any medications brought for disposal. All sites will take pills and medication patches of all kinds.

If possible, prescription labels should be removed or personal information should be blacked out; however, pill bottles will still be accepted if the labels are attached. No questions will be asked. This is an opportunity to safely empty out a medicine cabinet of drugs that are no longer needed.

The returned medications will be incinerated according to federal and state environmental guidelines.

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, unused or expired medicines that are stored in home medicine cabinets can be the source of misuse, abuse, accidental poisonings and overdoses. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet.

The drop-off sites will accept prescription drugs and over-the-counter medications only. Liquids, illicit drugs, needles, sharps and syringes cannot be accepted as part of the program.

Police and other county law enforcement agencies will provide anonymous drop-off sites. Officers will staff collection boxes in the parking lots of the following facilities or in facility lobbies:

Bethesda: 2nd District Police Station, 7359 Wisconsin Ave.

Chevy Chase:

Village of Friendship Heights, Community Center, 4433 S. Park Ave.

Chevy Chase Village Police Station, 5906 Connecticut Ave.

Damascus: Damascus Library, 9701 Main St.

Gaithersburg:

6th District Police Station, 45A West Watkins Mill Road

Gaithersburg Police Station, 14 Fulks Corner Ave.

Asbury Methodist Village – Lobby of Hefner Bldg., 417 Russell Ave.

Senior Living at Kentlands Manor, 217 Booth St., Kentlands

Germantown: 5th District Police Station, 20000 Aircraft Drive

Rockville:

Rockville City Police/Montgomery County Sheriff’s, Rockville City Police Station, 2 W. Montgomery Avenue (Lobby of Rockville City Police building)

Maryland State Police Rockville Barrack, 7915 Montrose Road

Bender Jewish Community Center (JCC) of Greater Washington, 6125 Montrose Road

Silver Spring:

3rd District Police Station, 1001 Milestone Drive

Fire Station 1, 8110 Georgia Ave.

Takoma Park: Takoma Park Police at Takoma Park City Building Lobby, 7500 Maple Ave.

Wheaton: 4th District Police Station, 2300 Randolph Road

Disposing of prescription drugs through a drug take-back day is the safest option. If it is safe to dispose of a drug by flushing it down a toilet, the drug label or prescription information will say so. Otherwise, unused drugs should not be poured down a sink or flushed for disposal.

Drugs should not be thrown in the trash unless specific safety precautions for safe disposal are followed. The County’s Division of Solid Waste Services offers these suggestions:

• Crush pills or tablets.
• Place unwanted or expired medication into a plastic bag (with a seal) or other empty container with a lid to prevent liquid medications from leaking out.
• Mix with kitty litter, coffee grounds or sawdust. (Liquid medications can be solidified using kitty litter or sawdust.)
• Seal the bag or container.
• Put the container or bag containing the medication into your regular household trash.
• Remove the label with the patient’s name from the original medicine vial or bottle.
• Place the empty plastic vial or bottle into your blue county recycling bin. Empty aerosol inhalers can also be recycled in recycling bins.

The event is organized by the Washington Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration, and is coordinated in our county by the county police and Substance Abuse Prevention Office in the county’s Department of Health and Human Services.

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