National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day is Saturday

A fifth annual, national drug take-back day will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday (Sept. 29)  with St. Louis County Police Department officers again partnering with Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officials to execute this initiative locally.

Organizers said the overall goal is to prevent unused prescription medication from becoming available for abuse, and to keep unused prescription medication out of the nation's water supply.

Americans participating in DEA’s four previous Take-Back Days turned in nearly 1.6 million pounds—almost 774 tons—of prescription drugs, most recently at almost 5,700 sites operated by nearly 4,300 of the DEA’s local law enforcement partners. DEA’s last event collected more than double the pills as the first event two years ago, with almost 50 percent more participating agencies and sites this past April than in September of 2010, according to statistics on the DEA website.

The drug take-back service is free and anonymous, with no questions asked.

St. Louis County Police Department officers will collect drugs at four sites Saturday:

• North St. Louis County:  North County Recreation Complex, 2577 Redman Road, 63136
• South St. Louis County:  Mehlville Substation, 3229 Lemay Ferry Road
• West St. Louis County:  City of Clarkson Valley Substation, 15933 Clayton Road, 63011 and .

For year-round, 24/7 drug disposal needs, five collection boxes are available at countywide police precinct stations for residents to dispose of unwanted prescription and over-the-counter medications.

The year-round drug collection boxes are available at:

• West County Precinct, 232 Vance Road, Valley Park
• South County Precinct, 3031 Telegraph Road
• Affton Southwest Precinct, 9928 Gravois Road
• North County Precinct, 11815 Benham Road
• Eureka Police Department, 120 City Hall Drive