The Baxter County Sheriff’s Office will be among 270 entities in Arkansas participating in the “National Take-Back Day” Saturday in an effort to removed unwanted, unused and potentially dangerous controlled substances and over the counter medications from medicine cabinets.The sheriff’s office event will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Orscheln Farm and Home parking lot, located at 1025 U.S. Highway 62 East in Mountain Home.Deputies will be on hand to assist members of the public.
The National Take-Back Day provides an opportunity for the public to surrender expired, unwanted, or unused pharmaceutical controlled substances and other medications for destruction. These drugs are a potential source of supply for illegal use and an unacceptable risk to children and to public health and safety. This event is intended to bring national focus to the issue of increasing pharmaceutical controlled substance abuse.
In the past, flushing medications and drugs seemed to be a safe and responsible method of disposal. It is now realized the drugs do not completely disintegrate and are contaminating waterways. Wastewater treatment plants and septic systems are not generally designed to treat pharmaceutical waste. The risk to the health of our waters is significant when we contribute to pollution by what we pour down our drains. This ends up in our creeks, rivers and lakes, and it places our drinking water supply at unnecessary risk.
The National Take-Back Day program is free with no questions asked about the meds. The drop off location will accept pills and medications in the bottle or in a bag or other disposable container. People may remove any or all labels from the bottles or containers if they wish. The process is very easy–simply drive up and drop them off.
In addition to this specific event, people may use the secure drop box at 206 West Eighth Street that is accessible at all times. This lock box is under 24-hour recorded video surveillance for security purposes.
All pills and pharmaceuticals collected will later be destroyed using drug incinerator equipment. Anyone having questions about The National Take-Back Day or drop off procedures may contact the sheriff’s office for information.
Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge says at the April 2021 Prescription Drug Take Back Day, Arkansas collected the ninth largest amount of medications in the nation totaling over 28,705 pounds.
“Cleaning out medicine cabinets and turning in expired and unused medications to law enforcement during a Drug Take Back event can save lives,” says AG Leslie. “With overdoses on the rise during the pandemic, now more than ever we must continue to properly dispose of these prescription drugs.”
The semi-annual event is put on by the Arkansas Attorney General’s office, Arkansas Department of Health, Arkansas Department of Human Services Division of Aging, Adult, & Behavioral Health Services, Arkansas National Guard, Arkansas Rotary Clubs, Arkansas State Board of Pharmacy, DEA, FBI, Office of the State Drug Director, University of Arkansas Criminal Justice Institute and over 207 additional law enforcement and government agencies, community organizations and public health providers.
The Take Back event will be held at various locations across the State but year-round locations are also available and can be found at ARTakeBack.org. Since the program began, more than 72 tons of medication have been collected in Arkansas, which is an estimated 201 million individual pills.
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