BECKLEY, W.V. (LOOTPRESS) – Tomorrow, Saturday, October 23, Raleigh County residents will have the opportunity to rid their homes of potentially dangerous, expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs. The opportunity is part of DEA National Take Back Day.
Stephanie French with the Raleigh County Prevention Coalition says people should dispose of their medication but in the right way.
“It does contaminate our water system if people flush them down the toilet. If they go into landfills, animals can get can them and, of course, people can dig through your trash and look for things and then make you a target.”
To help encourage proper disposal, the Raleigh County Prevention Coalition has 5,000 Deterra drug disposal bags which they will be passing out during the event. The bags, which were provided by Community Connection in Mercer County, fill with liquid when squeezed to safely destroy the medication inside. The bag and its contents can be thrown in the trash.
“We are wanting to help in this event,” French said. “So many people, especially the elderly, suffer home break-ins and invasions because people know they have a lot of medications.
The coalition will be set up at the Raleigh County Commission on Aging- located at 1614 S Kanawha Street- from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday.
People are encouraged to take as many Deterra bags as they may need for themselves, their neighbors and anyone else they know who has medications to dispose of.