“We don’t hear about the opiate crisis in our area quite so much as two years ago, a year ago,” said Rob Streck, Montgomery County Sheriff, “but prescription pills are still a hugely sought after drug because there’s a lot of people in our community who would never think of shooting something into their arm or something like that, but maybe don’t think so much about it when, well, this is a prescription drug that everyone uses.”
»BIZ BEAT: Farms relying on federal payments more
About 9.9 million Americans have misused controlled prescription drugs, according to the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Majority of those were obtained from family and friends, often in their home medicine cabinets.
“We just want to get that temptation out of everybody’s home,” Streck said.
Drugs can be dropped off at local police department locations and county sheriff’s offices, along with select stores including Sam’s Club at 1111 Miamisburg-Centerville Road, Walmart at 6244 Wilmington Pike, Walmart at 3465 York Commons Blvd. and Kroger stores at 2917 Alex Bell Road, 1095 S. Main Street in Centerville, 7300 Yankee Road in Middletown and 780 Northwoods Blvd. in Vandalia.
A full list of locations searchable by zip code can be found at takebackday.dea.gov.
»BIZ BEAT: Farms relying on federal payments more
For the first time this year, vaping and e-cigarette products can also be turned in for destruction, according to a DEA statement. The federal agency requests that anyone turning in an e-cigarette remove the batteries.
“DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Initiative helps get unused and unwanted prescription medications out of circulation and ensures their safe disposal,” said Acting Administrator Uttam Dhillon. “This year, we are taking a step further by accepting vaping devices and cartridges as we work with our federal partners to combat this emerging public health threat to the nation’s youth.”
While police agencies like the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office collect drugs year round and have contractors that take care of the destruction, Streck said the sheriff’s office hasn’t traditionally accepted vaping products. But it will begin after the Drug Take Back Day.
During a Take Back Day in April, the DEA’s law enforcement partners collected more than 937,000 pounds of drugs at 6,258 collection sites. The number of sites has grown from 5,178 in October 2016 when 731,269 pounds were collected.
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