Clark County Sheriff’s Office collects over 300 pounds of meds on Drug Take Back Day

The Clark County Combined Health District opened a drug disposal box that allows residents to safely dispose of their unused and unwanted medications. The box is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. JENNA LAWSON/STAFF

The Clark County Combined Health District opened a drug disposal box that allows residents to safely dispose of their unused and unwanted medications. The box is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. JENNA LAWSON/STAFF

The Clark County Sheriff’s Office collected 347 pounds of medication on National Prescription Drug Take Back Day.

The medication collected was enough to fill three to four large trash bags, Detective Brian Melchi said.

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Medication was then turned over to the United States Drug Enforcement Agency to be destroyed.

The sheriff’s office had officers staffed at their drop off sites from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., on Saturday, April 27, and even offered a drive-thru service in which offices collected medications while residents stayed in their cars.

If you missed National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, you can find a controlled substance public disposal location in the area by visiting takebackday.dea.gov.

Started by the DEA, National Prescription Drug Take Back Day was created with the purpose of helping adults clean out their medicine cabinets.

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Last year, the DEA collected and destroyed close to one million pounds, nearly 475 tons, of potentially dangerous expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs, making it the most successful event in DEA history, according to the DEA’s website.

According to a study by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, in 2016 six million Americans misused controlled prescription drugs. The study showed that a majority of abused prescription drugs were obtained from family and friends, often from the home medicine cabinet.

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