Prescription drug take back day scheduled

NORRISTOWN » Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele and the Police Chiefs of Montgomery County have announced the next prescription drug Take Back Day, scheduled for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017, at 41 locations throughout Montgomery County.

This fall‘s Take Back Day — which coincides with the DEA’s nationwide Take Back Day — is a chance for Montgomery County residents to clean out their medicine cabinets of unwanted, unused and expired prescription medications and dispose of them easily in a safe, environmentally friendly way. Ridding medicine cabinets of these medications is

an important step in combatting the opioid and heroin epidemic, which often begins with prescription medicines taken from a home medicine cabinet. It is also a way to make sure our water supply remains safe and healthy by keeping unwanted medicines from being flushed into the water supply or disposed of through trash collections.

At the spring 2017 Take Back Day in Montgomery County, a record 7,204.4 pounds were collected. That success comes after a record 2016 when nearly 12,000 pounds or six tons of unwanted or expired medications were collected. These numbers are from both unwanted prescription and over-the-counter medications collected that day through resident dropoffs as well as the amounts collected by police departments through their permanent prescription drug disposal boxes. More than 35,000 pounds of medicine has been collected since the program began in 2010.

“Getting 7,200 pounds of unwanted and unneeded prescription drugs turned in for safe disposal during April’s Take Back Day shows that there is a growing awareness of the need to get these medicines out of the house and safely disposed of. It also shows that there are far too many medicines being prescribed,” said Steele. “Collecting unwanted medications is just one way the District Attorney’s Office and law enforcement in Montgomery County are working together to combat drugs in our communities and decrease overdose deaths. We’re asking all residents to do their part by cleaning out their cabinets of unneeded medications.”

The participating sites, listed below, will be staffed by police officers. The sites will accept prescription and over-the-counter tablets and capsules, liquid medications, inhalers, creams and ointments, nasal sprays and pet medications. Not accepted are intravenous and injectable solutions as well as needles. Prescription medicines can be in their original prescription bottles with the label removed or can be placed in plastic bags. This year’s Take Back Day locations are (in alphabetical order):

• Abington Township Police Department, 1166 Old York Rd., Abington, PA 19001

• Cheltenham Township Police Department, 8230 Old York Rd., Elkins Park, PA 19027

• Collegeville Police Department, 491 E. Main St., Collegeville, PA 19426

• Conshohocken Borough Police Department, 400 Fayette St., Suite 100, Conshohocken, PA 19428

• Douglass Township Police Department, 1320 E. Philadelphia Ave., Gilbertsville, PA 19525

• East Norriton Township Police Department, 2501 Stanbridge St., East Norriton, PA 19401

• Franconia Township Police Department/Indian Valley Character Counts Coalition at Maplewood Estates, 815 Maplewood Drive, Harleysville, PA 19438

• Hatboro Police Department, 12O E. Montgomery Ave., Hatboro, PA 19040

• Hatfield Township Administration Building, 1950 School Rd., Hatfield, PA 19440

• Horsham Township Police Department at Giant Food Store, 314 Horsham Rd., Horsham, PA 19044

• Jenkintown Borough Police Department, 700 Summit Ave., Jenkintown, PA 19046

• Lansdale Police Department, 1 Vine St., Suite 101, Lansdale, PA 19446

• Limerick Township Police Department, 155 S. Limerick Rd., 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 Department at Sanatoga Fire Company, 2222 E. High St., Pottstown, PA 19464

• Lower Providence 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 Giant Food Store, 1201 Knapp Rd., North Wales, PA 19545

• New Hanover Township Police Department, 2943 N. Charlotte St., Gilbertsville, PA 19525

• Norristown Police Department, 235 E. Airy St., Norristown, PA 19401

• North Wales Borough Police Department, 300 School St., North Wales, PA 19454

• Plymouth Township Police Department, 700 Belvoir Rd., Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462

• Pottstown Police Department, 100 E. High St., Pottstown, PA 19464

• Rockledge Police Department, 1 Park Ave., Rockledge, PA 19046

• Royersford 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 Police Department, 801 Loch Alsh Ave., Fort Washington, PA 19034

• 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. Sixth St., Pennsburg, PA 18073

• Upper Pottsgrove Police Department, 1420 Heather Place, Pottstown, PA 19464

• Upper Providence Police Department, 1286 Black Rock Rd., Oaks, PA 19456

• West Conshohocken Police Department at Borough Hall, 112 Ford St., West Conshohocken, PA 19428

• West Norriton Township Police Department, 1630 W. Marshall St., Jeffersonville, PA 19403

• West Pottsgrove Police Department, 980 Grosstown Road, Stowe, PA 19464

• Whitemarsh Police Department, 616 E. Germantown Pike, Lafayette Hill, PA 19444

• Whitpain Township Police Department, 960 Wentz Rd., Blue Bell, PA 19422

Beyond Take 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 permanent locations can be found on the District Attorney’s Office website at www.montcopa. org/da.

Image courtesy of the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office