SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Saturday will offer the chance for South Dakotans from across the state to dispose of their unused prescription drugs safely and anonymously.
This fall’s Take-Back Day is Saturday, October 26. The day provides an opportunity to safely dispose of prescription drugs no longer needed at home.
According to the South Dakota Department of Social Services (SD DSS), unused medications can be disposed of in a secure medication drop box at participating locations like pharmacies and police stations.
“Participating in the Take-Back Day event is a small thing we can all do to combat the big issue of substance use,” said DSS Cabinet Secretary, Matt Althoff in a press release. “If you have any unused prescriptions at home, we encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity for the safety of loved ones and others who might gain access to medications they were not prescribed.”
Danial McCormick, a Division Program Manager at the DEA, said this is going to be the 27th National Drug Take-Back Initiative.
“It is something the DEA does every October and every April and it’s a chance for folks to clean out their medicine cabinets of any unwanted, unused prescription drugs, give them to us and we will get them destroyed in an environmentally safe way,” McCormick told KELOLAND News.
McCormick said it allows people to drop off their prescriptions in a safe manner.
“The studies show that over 50% of the folks that use prescription drugs in a non-medical use are got from family or friends,” McCormick said. “If we can clear those out of those medicine cabinets it helps stop some folks from using them in an illicit manner and it also allows us to destroy them in an environmentally safe way so they aren’t going into the water stream.”
“Since we have been doing it in South Dakota we have taken over 34,000 pounds of unwanted medication,” McCormick said. “It does impact the community because those drugs are not sitting around in a medicine cabinet for folks to use illicitly.
McCormick said even if you miss the day there are still ways to safely discard your unwanted prescription drugs.
“You can go on the DEA website, a lot of pharmacies, law enforcement agencies have collections baskets year round that you can just go and drop those drugs there,” said McCormick.
All of the drop-off locations within South Dakota can be found here.
For those who can’t make it to a drop-off site, DisposeRx packets are available for free from the DSS and can be mailed directly to you.
