Northwest Iowa — Saturday is the second of two National Prescription Drug Take-Back Days. Many sheriffs’ offices in the area and several pharmacies participate.
Lyon County Sheriff Stewart Vander Stoep tells us about the program in that county.
He says the DEA promotes it twice a year, but with the way they are set up in the Sheriff’s Office lobby, you can really come anytime with your prescription drugs.
According to Vander Stoep, they have collected progressively more drugs every year. He says you should check your medicine cabinets and take in any medication you don’t need.
The Lyon County Sheriff’s Office gives us these tips for disposing of unwanted medications:
• Empty the contents of pill bottles into a Ziploc bag (please recycle your pill bottles at home and remember to scratch out all personal identification information).
• Leave liquids, gels, or creams in their original containers and place them in a Ziploc bag.
• Chemo Drugs will be accepted at this event.
• Sharps such as needles, syringes and any other items used for diabetic tests will not be accepted.
The Lyon County Sheriff’s Office would like to remind everyone not to dispose of waste medication down drains or toilets or in the trash. The drug receptacle container is open to the public 24/7 in the sheriff’s office lobby to those that are unable to make it on Saturday, October 27, 2018. Since starting the program in 2016 the sheriff’s office has collected 144 pounds of medications.
For locations of other places in the area and in the state where you can drop off unwanted or unneeded medication, click here.
National Prescription Drug Take Back events will operate from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. on Saturday at over 100 sites across Iowa. But again, many of them are open all the time.
