Drug Take Back Day planned for Oct. 26
Forty-one locations throughout the county will be collecting unwanted, unneeded and expired medications.
NORRISTOWN >> Forty-one locations throughout Montgomery County will be collecting unwanted, unneeded and expired medications as part of Drug Take Back Day.
The event is organized by the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office and the Police Chiefs Association of Montgomery County. It runs 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 26.
While most locations are police departments and municipal buildings, two Wegmans and two Giant Food Stores are also participating by serving as drop-off locations. All locations are staffed by police officers.
Take Back Day in Montgomery County — which coincides with the DEA’s nationwide Take Back Day — is a chance for residents to clean out their medicine cabinets of unwanted, unused and expired prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) medications and dispose of them easily in a safe, environmentally friendly way. Ridding medicine cabinets of these medications is an important step for the safety of all households.
A recent study from Nationwide Children’s Hospital and the Central Ohio Poison Center found that children and young adults aged 10 to 25 years old who attempted to commit suicide by poisoning most commonly used OTC painkillers and anti-depressants that were available in their home, underscoring the need to get unneeded medicines out of homes and safely secure all others.
“Just like the ‘spring back’ and ‘fall forward’ time changes are the time to remember to change batteries in smoke detectors, I hope it’s also becoming the time where every household in Montgomery County knows to clear out medicine cabinets and bathroom cupboards of unwanted and expired medicines. This is another essential step to keeping your home safe,” said District Attorney Kevin Steele.
“Every six months on the last Saturday in October and April, we do these Drug Take Back Days, and each time as I help unload box after box of unwanted medicines from police cruises and police SUVs, I am both astounded at the amount of drugs out there and very proud of Montgomery County residents for acting on this essential safety message. Safely dispose of unwanted medicines and, at the same time, make your home safer,” he said.
The last two collection days yielded 7,716 pounds of prescriptions and OTC medications in April 2019 and 9,056 pounds last October. Since the Take Back program began in 2010, nearly 70,000 pounds of medicines have been collected and safely disposed of.
The participating sites for this upcoming Take Back Day are:
• Abington Township Police Department, 1166 Old York Rd., Abington, PA 19001
• Ambler Township Police Department, 3131 Rosemary Ave., Ambler, PA 19002
• Bridgeport Borough Police Department, 65 W. 4th St., Bridgeport, PA 19405
• Cheltenham Township Police Department, 8230 Old York Rd., Elkins Park, PA 19027
• Collegeville Police Department at the Municipal Building, 491 E. Main St., Collegeville, PA 19426
• Douglass Township Police Department at the Giant Food Store, 173 Holly Rd., Gilbertsville, PA 19525
• East Norriton Township Police Department, 2501 Stanbridge St., East Norriton, PA 19401
• Franconia Township Police at Franconia Elementary School, 366 Harleysville Pike, Souderton, PA 18964
• Hatboro Police Department, 120 E. Montgomery Ave., Hatboro, PA 19040
• Hatfield Township Police Department at the Administration Building, 1950 School Rd., Hatfield, PA 19440
• Horsham Township Police Department at the Giant Food Store, 314 Horsham Rd., Horsham, PA 19044
• Jenkintown Borough Police Department, 700 Summit Ave., Jenkintown, PA 19046
• Lansdale Police Department, 35 Vine St., Lansdale, PA 19446
• Limerick Township Police Department, 646 W. Ridge Pike, Limerick, PA 19468
• Lower Gwynedd Township Police Department, 1130 N. Bethlehem Pike, Spring House, PA 19477
• Lower Merion Police Department, 71 E. Lancaster Ave., Ardmore, PA 19003
• Lower Moreland Township Police Department, 640 Red Lion Rd., Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006
• Lower Pottsgrove Township Police at Sanatoga Fire Company, 2222 E. High St., Pottstown, PA 19464
• Lower Providence Township Police Department, 100 Parklane Dr., Eagleville, PA 19403
• Marlborough Township Police Department, 6040 Upper Ridge Rd., Green Lane, PA 18054
• Montgomery Township Police Department at Wegmans at the Montgomeryville Mall in North Wales
• New Hanover Township Police Department, 2943 N. Charlotte St., Gilbertsville, PA 19525
• North Wales Borough Police at Borough Hall, 300 School St., North Wales, PA 19454
• Plymouth Township Police Department, 700 Belvoir Rd., Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462
• Pottstown Borough Police Department, 100 E. High St., Pottstown, PA 19464
• Rockledge Borough Police Department, 1 Park Ave., Rockledge, PA 19046
• Royersford Borough Police Department, 300 Main St., Royersford, PA 19468
• Souderton Borough Police Department, 31 West Summit St., Souderton, PA 18964
• Springfield Township Police Department, 1510 Paper Mill Rd., Wyndmoor, PA 19038
• Towamencin Township Police Department, 1090 Troxel Rd., Lansdale, PA 19446
• Upper Dublin Township Police Department, 801 Loch Alsh Ave., Fort Washington, PA 19034
• Upper Gwynedd Township Police Department, 1 Parkside Place, West Point, PA 19486
• Upper Merion Township Police Department, 175 West Valley Forge Rd., King of Prussia, PA 19406
• Upper Moreland Township Police Department, 117 Park Ave., Willow Grove, PA 19090
• Upper Perk Police Department, 88 W. 6th St., Pennsburg, PA 18073
• Upper Pottsgrove Police Department, 1420 Heather Place, Pottstown, PA 19464
• Upper Providence Township Police at Wegmans in Providence Town Shopping Center in Collegeville, PA
• West Conshohocken Police Department at the West Conshohocken Borough Hall, 112 Ford St., West Conshohocken, PA 19428
• West Norriton Township Police Department, 1630 W. Marshall St., Norristown, PA 19403
• West Pottsgrove Township Police Department, 980 Grosstown Rd., Stowe, PA 19464
• Whitemarsh Police Department, 616 E. Germantown Pike, Lafayette Hills, PA 19444
• Whitpain Township Police Department, 960 Wentz Rd., Blue Bell, PA 19422
BeyondTake Back Day, unwanted medications can be dropped off and disposed of throughout the year at more than 50 permanent prescription drug disposal boxes, some of which were sponsored by the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association and some by Pennsylvania American Water in an effort to help keep our water supply safe. The complete list of participating locations for the upcoming Take Back Day as well as the permanent MedReturn box locations can be found on the District Attorney’s Office website at www. montcopa.org/da.