National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is October 23
The Mental Health, Addiction and Recovery Services (MHARS) Board of Lorain County is supporting the National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on October 23 across Lorain County. In April 2021, Lorain County Drug Take Back events resulted in the collection of 3,883.7 pounds of prescription drugs.
From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., volunteers will provide free locking medication safes and other drug safety resources across the county at the locations noted below with an asterisk. At the locations listed without an asterisk, visitors can drop off their medications with law enforcement officers or other personnel for disposal. All are encouraged to clean out their medicine cabinets of potentially harmful drugs by safely disposing of them at this free, confidential annual event. The effort is led nationally by the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Locations in Lorain County include:
- Amherst Police Department* at 911 North Lake St. 44001
- Avon Lake Police Department at 32855 Walker Rd. 44012
- Avon Police Department at 36145 Detroit Rd. 44011
- Columbia Township Fire Department at 25540 Royalton Rd. 44028
- Elyria Police Department * 18 West Ave. 44035
- Grafton Police Department* at 1009 Chestnut St. 44044
- Kipton Police Department* at 299 State St. 44049
- LaGrange Police Department at 301 Liberty St. 44050
- Lorain County Sheriff’s Office* at 9896 Murray Ridge Rd. 44035
- Lorain Police Department * at 200 West Erie Ave. 44052
- North Ridgeville Department* at 7303 Avon-Belden Rd. 44039
- Oberlin Police Department at 85 South Main St. 44074
- Sheffield Lake Police Department * at 609 Harris Rd. 44054
- Sheffield Village Police Department at 4340 Colorado Ave. 44054
- Vermilion Police Department* at 5791 Liberty Ave. 44089
- Wellington Police Department* at 117 Willard Memorial Square 44090
The National Prescription Drug Take Back Day addresses a crucial public safety and public health issue. According to the 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 9.7 million people misused prescription pain relievers, 4.9 million people misused prescription stimulants, and 5.9 million people misused prescription tranquilizers or sedatives in 2019. The survey also showed that a majority of misused prescription drugs were obtained from family and friends, often from the home medicine cabinet.
