NORTHEAST OHIO — Saturday is National Drug Take Back Day, when collection sites across Northeast Ohio are accepting unused or unwanted prescription drugs.
According to Cleveland Clinic, the hospital system has collected 6,000 pounds of unwanted prescription medication so far this year — 6,000 pounds of medication that won't end up misused or abused.
The process is simple: gather any unwanted or unused prescription drugs, place them in a bag, drive to a drop-off location, and place them in a collection box.
Take Back events are part of a broader effort that appears to be working. According to a study from Addiction Recovery Guide, overdose deaths have dropped 53% in Ohio since 2020. Lake County has seen the biggest decline, with a 75% drop in overdose deaths.
Joseph Dixon, special agent in charge with the Drug Enforcement Administration, said people are now having conversations about drugs and the dangers of addiction. Dixon said many people don't realize the risks sitting in their own medicine cabinets.
"Ultimately, what we don't want is for you to be the drug dealer," he said. "If you have family members that come over, visitors that come over, you know, one pill can kill, and sometimes people might go into the medicine cabinet or might go into what that shoebox that you had underneath your bed."
Dixon said National Drug Take Back Day is about being part of the solution and can also serve as a starting point for families to talk about the dangers of prescription drugs at home.
"If you don't know where to start having that conversation, you could actually use Take Back as an opportunity to sit down with your loved ones and say, 'Hey, you know, one pill can kill. We have these old, expired pills, these medication prescriptions in our home. Let's talk about it. Let's talk about the dangers of these,'" Dixon said.
Year-round drug take back sites are also available. A link to find a location near you can be found here.
