LOCAL

Unused medicines? Here's where to properly dispose of them in Greater Columbus Saturday

Monroe Trombly
The Columbus Dispatch
Since its inception in 2000, Take Back Day has removed more than 15 million pounds of medication from circulation, according to Michelle Spahn, assistant special agent in charge for the DEA's Columbus district office.

Greater Columbus residents can drop off unwanted and unused prescription medication at more than 20 area locations this Saturday as part of National Prescription Drug Take Back Day.

Collection will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at participating Kroger stores and area police departments.

The event, sponsored by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), is billed as an easy way for people to properly dispose of medication.

“Disposing of unneeded medications can help prevent drugs from being misused,” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in a news release. “Overdose deaths continue to hit tragic record highs.”

More than 100,000 Americans died from drug overdoses between May 2020 and April 2021 — the most ever recorded in a single year — according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The DEA in its news release cited a report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration that found a majority of people who misused a prescription medication obtained the medicine from a family member or friend.

Someone drops unused prescription pills into a box during a National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. Proper disposal is encouraged so that opioids and other potentially harmful medications don't get misused.

Since its inception in 2000, National Prescription Drug Take Back Day has removed more than 15 million pounds of medication from circulation, according to Michelle Spahn, assistant special agent in charge for the DEA's Columbus district office. That includes more than 46,000 pounds of unwanted medication collected in Ohio during the last Take Back Day held in October.

Collection programs like Take Back Day or even incineration are the federal government's preferred methods for prescription drug disposal. 

Unless the medication is listed on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) "flush" list, the Environmental Protection Agencypollution control districts and sewer agencies (including at least one in Ohio) discourage flushing prescription drugs down the toilet.

Doing so can affect local water supplies because treatment plants are not equipped to remove pharmaceuticals from wastewater, according to the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District.

"While researchers have no definitive evidence of human health risk directly related to flushing unused medications, the Sewer District has found education can help reduce this source of potential contamination," the public utility said on its website.

For residents who can't make it to one of the locations in Franklin County listed below on Saturday, year-round receptacles are available at some pharmacies, hospitals, police departments and businesses. There also are drop boxes at Veterans Administration medical centers.  

Where can I drop off prescription drugs Saturday?

Here are more than 20 participating area locations :

  • Columbus Public Health, 240 Parsons Ave.
  • Ohio State University - South Oval, 1739 N. High St. 
  • Kroger, 1375 Chambers Road
  • Kroger, 3637 S. High St.
  • Columbus Fire Training Academy, 3675 Parsons Ave.
  • Clinton Township Police Department, 3820 Cleveland Ave.
  • Bexley Police Department, 559 N. Cassingham Road, Bexley
  • Perry Township Police Department, 7125 Sawmill Road, Dublin
  • Dublin Police Department, 6565 Commerce Parkway, Dublin
  • Kroger, 7100 Hospital Drive, Dublin
  • Jackson Township Fire Department, 4665 Hoover Road, Grove City
  • Hilliard Division of Police, 5171 Northwest Parkway, Hilliard
  • Kroger, 4656 Cemetery Road, Hilliard
  • Minerva Park Community Building, 2829 Minerva Lake Road, Minerva Park
  • Plain Township Fire Department, 9500 Johnstown Road, New Albany
  • Reynoldsburg Division of Police, 7240 East Main St., Reynoldsburg
  • Upper Arlington Municipal Services Center, 3600 Tremont Road, Upper Arlington
  • Blendon Township Complex, 6350 Hempstead Road, Westerville
  • Kroger, 55 W. Schrock Road, Westerville
  • Worthington Division of Police, 6555 Worthington Galena Road, Worthington
  • Sharon Township Police Department, 95 E. Wilson Bridge Road, Worthington

Additional locations in Greater Columbus can be found by searching at dea.gov/takebackday.

Monroe Trombly covers breaking and trending news.

mtrombly@dispatch.com

@monroetrombly