Local residents can dispose of unused or expired medication this weekend in Urbana, Mechanicsburg and North Lewisburg.
The Urbana Police Division and the Mechanicsburg Police Department will collect these items Saturday as part of the Drug Enforcement Agency’s National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day.
Urbana Police Chief Matt Lingrell said property officer Kerrie Kimpel will collect items at Kroger, 1637 E. U.S. Route 36, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Urbana police are partnering with Kroger and its pharmacists, the Mental Health Drug and Alcohol Services of Logan and Champaign Counties, Mary Rutan Hospital and the Drug Free Youth Coalition Opiate Task Force as part of this effort.
“This event gives citizens an opportunity to turn in unused or expired medications for safe disposal,” Lingrell said. “This program offers another opportunity to help protect citizens, our water and our food supplies and decrease prescription drug abuse by making it easier for citizens to properly dispose of unused or expired medication.
“This is a completely confidential program. No personal information will be collected. We ask that people coming to the drop off site please remove all prescription labels from bottles before arriving.”
Items residents can dispose of include prescription pills, over the counter medications, medication samples, pet medications and vitamins.
Prohibited items include needles, syringes, lancets, thermometers, aerosol cans, IV bags, hydrogen peroxide and bloody or infectious waste.
Mechanicsburg Police Chief John Alexander said an officer will be at the Mechanicsburg, 18 N. Main St., and North Lewisburg, 60 E. Maple St., police headquarters to collect prescription drugs.
The Mechanicsburg Police Department’s Facebook page notes the collection in Mechanicsburg will take place between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. while the North Lewisburg collection will take place between 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. at which time an officer will go to Cherry Arbors to assist in collecting medication.
Permanent drop-off sites
In addition to Saturday’s collection, residents are also able to drop off unused or expired medication at permanent drug drop boxes located at the Urbana Police Division, Champaign County Sheriff’s Office, both the Mechanicsburg and North Lewisburg office for the Mechanicsburg Police and the St. Paris Police Department.
