Saturday was National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, and in Loudoun County, Virginia, the sheriff explained how you can still participate – and why it’s important.
Sheriff Mike Chapman, a former Drug Enforcement Administration agent himself, said the department received about 1,000 pounds of unwanted, expired and/or unused prescription drugs on Saturday, bringing their total since 2010 to about 17,000 pounds.
The old drugs in your cabinet may be more dangerous than you realize, Chapman said, because it’s not always just you and your family in your home. If you ever have a party, or show your home to potential sellers – just to name two scenarios – those are opportunities for strangers to have access to your pills.
“Sometimes people will take these pills and they’ll use them, or they’ll sell them,” Chapman said. “And if they’re not used properly, they can cause some serious concerns here.”
If you missed it, there’s still a chance to remove the unwanted drugs from your home. In Loudoun County, Chapman said, every sheriff’s station in the county has a 24/7 drop box. People “can always drop them off there and have them properly disposed of,” he said.
Check with the law enforcement agency in your city or county to see whether they have a permanent option.
Chapman urged, “Get these pills out of the hands of people to whom they’re not prescribed.”
WTOP’s Nick Iannelli contributed to this report.
