On this Saturday, September 26, 2015 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will give the public an opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs. Bring your pills for disposal to the Wonder Lake Fire Protection District (East Side) at 4300 East Wonder Lake Road, Wonder Lake, Illinois. (The DEA cannot accept liquids or needles or sharps, only pills or patches.) The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.
This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. In addition, Americans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines—flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash—both pose potential safety and health hazards.
This initiative is nationwide and many police departments in McHenry County are participating. We encourage you to visit us Saturday in Wonder Lake, contact your local police department directly, or use the DEA link to see if you have a participating agency near you.
Additional DEA Take Back locations are listed at: https://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/NTBI/NTBI-PUB.pub?_flowExecutionKey=_c9D0D11EF-4068-8B69-7959-55CC0B10DBC8_kC4B808A9-49D1-595E-E21B-5C369BB46B66
(The web link refreshes often, hit start over and you will be on the correct page.)
