This Saturday, April 27, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office will participate in a one-day collaborative effort with the Drug Enforcement Administration to remove unused and expired medications from homes and medicine cabinets.
Bring your unused prescription drugs for disposal to the STPSO Law Enforcement Complex in Slidell, 300 Brownswitch Road, or the STPSO Law Enforcement Complex in Covington, 2070 Collins Blvd.
Tablets, capsules, patches, and other solid forms of prescription drugs will be accepted. Liquid products, such as cough syrup, will be accepted but must be tightly sealed in their original container. Vaping devices and cartridges can also be dropped off, provided batteries can be removed and are removed. However, inhalers and syringes and other sharps will not be accepted.
The service is free and anonymous, with no questions asked. Any identifying information should be removed from containers before being deposited.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health shows year after year that the majority of misused and abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including someone else’s medication being stolen from a home medicine cabinet. In addition, Americans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines—flushing them or throwing them in the trash—both pose potential safety and health hazards.
In addition to participating in the DEA Drug Take Back Day events, the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office also has permanent drug take-back boxes at both of the above listed locations. Those boxes are accessible from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Learn more about the April 27 Drug Take Back Day event at www.deatakeback.com.