Heavy snow and difficult travel expected again, heaviest snow in southern Minnesota

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

Local law enforcement agencies and pharmacies across Minnesota will be collecting leftover prescription drugs Saturday as part of a national campaign to slow drug abuse.

It’s the Drug Enforcement Agency’s 18th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. The semiannual campaign allows individuals to anonymously dispose of unwanted prescription medication, and also attempts to raise awareness of prescription drug abuse.

In Hennepin County, three drop-off sites will be staffed by sheriff’s deputies who will collect the medication. The deputies will also provide individuals with free disposal pouches to properly throw away medication on their own.

Other communities around the state also will be taking part

drop-off sites will be collecting vaping fluids and devices

, including illegal THC oil cartridges associated with a recent outbreak of severe lung disease.

Want to get rid of your vaping device? The DEA will take it

"People can bring their cartridges and their pods but they are not accepting ion battery devices," said Minnesota Department of Health tobacco control manager Laura Oliven.

The DEA began holding the drug take-back event in 2010 to bring awareness to the link between unwanted medication and the potential for abuse. Many people who abuse prescription drugs acquire them from family and friends.

According to the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, almost 10 million individuals nationwide reported misusing prescription pain relievers, 2 million of them for the first time.

While the event’s main aim is to hinder abuse, dropping off leftover medication is also an eco-friendly alternative, said Cody Wiberg, executive director of the Minnesota Board of Pharmacy.

"They take them to an incinerator, which is the best way to destroy them,” Wiberg said. “[It’s] the most environmentally-friendly way to destroy them, rather than flushing them into the sewer system.”

The drop-off sites staffed by Hennepin County deputies are:

More drop-off sites around the state can be found at 

Minnesota News

Crime, Law and Justice

Health

NewsPartners

Mohamed Ibrahim

Author

Saturday’s drop-off sites also will be collecting vaping devices and fluids, including illegal cannabis oil cartridges, for the first time in the event’s nine-year history.

Minnesota law enforcement agencies, pharmacies to collect unwanted prescription drugs

Go Deeper.

Like this?