This Saturday, April 24, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the St. Tammany Sheriff’s Office will participate in a one-day collaborative effort with the DEA to remove unused and expired medications from homes and medicine cabinets.
Bring unused prescription drugs for disposal to the STPSO Administrative Building, 300 Brownswitch Road, in Slidell or the STPSO Law Enforcement Complex at 2070 Collins Blvd., in Covington.
Tablets, capsules, patches, and other solid forms of prescription drugs will be accepted. Vaping devices and cartridges can also be dropped off at the locations, provided lithium batteries are removed. However, liquids (including intravenous solutions), syringes and other sharps, and illegal drugs will not be accepted. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked. Any identifying information should be removed from containers before being deposited.
At its last Take Back Day in October, DEA collected a record-high amount of expired, unwanted, and unused prescription medications. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. has seen an increase in overdose deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health shows year after year that the majority of misused and abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including someone else’s medication being stolen from the home medicine cabinet.
The St. Tammany Sheriff’s Office also has permanent drug take-back boxes at both of the above listed locations.
