RAPID CITY, S.D. – If you don’t remove unneeded prescription drugs from your home, they may find a new one. A home that could potentially lead to an overdose.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will hold its 22nd National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on Saturday, April 30, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at a variety of collection sites throughout the Black Hills region. This biannual event working closely with law enforcement offers free, anonymous disposal of unneeded medications.
” It’s a great event in that we can clear out medicine cabinets of unwanted or unused prescription drugs. If you look at folks who abuse opioids most of them started by taking prescription drugs. So this is a great way to kind of take them away from those folks so hopefully, it won’t get them started down that abuse path,” said the DEA Omaha Diversion Program Manager, Dan McCormick.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that in the United States, more than 106,000 people died as the result of a drug overdose in the 12-month period ending November 2021, marking the most drug-related deaths ever recorded, with opioid-related deaths accounting for 75 percent of all overdose deaths.
The DEA Drug Take Back Day has removed more than 15 million pounds of medication from circulation since its inception, helping combat the overdose epidemic in the United States. Collected drugs are incinerated by the DEA.
“Last spring when we did it in South Dakota it was roughly 1,500 pounds that we collected and overall since we’ve been doing the program in South Dakota it’s roughly 30,000 pounds,” said McCormick.
The DEA will collect pills, tablets, capsules, patches and other solid forms of prescription drugs, as well as, vaping devices and cartridges as long as the lithium batteries have been removed. Liquids, syringes and other sharps, and illicit drugs will not be accepted.
The DEA Drug Take Back drop off locations at the Rapid City, Spearfish, Chadron and Lusk Police Departments, Lawrence County Sheriffs Office, and at the Ogalala Sioux Tribe Jail and Justice Center.
Year-round receptacles are available at the following locations:
- Veterans Administration medical centers at Ft. Meade and Hot Springs.
- CVS Pharmacy, 1415 Eglin St., Rapid City
- B&L Inc., 909 E. St. Patrick St., Rapid City
- The Medicine Shoppe, 1304 Mt. Rushmore Rd., Rapid City
- Walgreens, 1902 Mt. Rushmore Rd., Rapid City
- Boyds Drug Mart, 655 Mountain View Rd., Rapid City
- Boyds Drug RX Express, 2650 Mt. Rushmore Rd., Rapid City
- Oyate Health Center, 3200 Canyon Lake Dr., Rapid City
- U.S. Air Force 28 Medical Group, 2900 Doolittle Dr, Ellsworth Air Force Base
- Monument Health Sturgis Hospital Pharmacy, 2140 Junction Ave., Sturgis
- Monument Health Custer Hospital, 1220 Montgomery St., Custer
- Monument Health Lead/Deadwood Hospital, 61 Charles St., Deadwood
- Fall River Health Services, 1201 Highway 71 S, Hot Springs
- Monument Health Spearfish Hospital, 1440 N Main St., Spearfish
- Prairie Hills Pharmacy, 319 Summit St, Belle Fourche
- Weston County Pharmacy, 1124 Washington Blvd., Newcastle, W.Y.
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2022-04-27 19:55:18
