On Saturday, April 22, Frederick County will take part in the Drug Enforcement Agency’s (DEA) “National Prescription Drug Take Back Day.”
This drive-through event offers Frederick County residents the opportunity to safely dispose of potentially dangerous, expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs and prevent medicine misuse or diversion. As an additional service to the community, the event will also provide for the disposal of used or unused sharps, including syringes, needles, lancets, and auto injectors.
On Saturday, April 22, between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., law enforcement and health department personnel will be collecting medicines and sharps in a drive-through event format at the following locations: Frederick County Health Department — 350 Montevue Lane, Frederick; and Maryland State Police, Frederick Barrack — 110 Airport Drive East, Frederick.
The following medications may be dropped off during the event:
Prescription and over-the-counter medicines (in pill form only);
Prescription patches; and
Pet medicines (in pill form only).
Participants may dispose of their medicines in the original container and are encouraged to remove any identifying information from the prescription label.
Frederick County Health Department’s Harm Reduction Program will be on-site at both locations to collect used or unused sharps, including syringes, needles, lancets, and auto injectors. Sharps must be separated from all medicine being disposed. If disposing sharps, please have an approximate count of sharps to be disposed.
This event is for residential disposal only and is not intended for businesses, clinics, or medical/healthcare facilities.
According to the 2020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 16.1 million Americans reported misusing any prescription psychotherapeutic drug in the past 12 months. This drug disposal event provides an opportunity for residents to prevent drug diversion, addiction, and overdose deaths by safely and securely disposing of their expired and/or unwanted medications.
For more information about the DEA’s “National Prescription Drug Take Back Day” initiative, visit takebackday.dea.gov.
For information about the dangers of prescription medicine misuse and for information about monitoring, storing, and disposing of medicines, please visit health.frederickcountymd.gov/OMPP or contact the Frederick County Health Department at 301-600-1755.
