Return Your Unused Medicine To Avoid Chance of Abuse, Overdose

Attorney General Josh Kaul is joined by Wisconsin health officials and law enforcement at Forward Pharmacy Monona to encourage people to return old medications. Anna Marie Yanny / WPR.

Wisconsin officials, including Attorney General Josh Kaul, visited a pharmacy outside of Madison on Wednesday to urge Wisconsinites to return old medications at over a hundred sites around the state.

They asked people to turn out on Oct. 26, on national “Drug Take Back Day,” which is championed by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to prevent drug overdoses.

“If there’s an event near you, we certainly encourage folks to safely dispose of their prescription medications,” Kaul said. “If not, we also have more than 500 drop boxes around the state”

The idea is that by dropping leftover medications at local law enforcement offices and drugstores, Wisconsinites can decrease the likleihood of abuse.

“If you leave those prescriptions in your medicine cabinet, a family member, a friend who’s visiting or somebody else potentially could take them and divert them,” Kaul said. “That can lead to substance use disorder.”

This spring, the state’s “Drug Take Back” program collected 55,122 pounds of medications, according to the Department of Justice.

It’s also important that people don’t flush their drugs, Kaul added, because wastewater treatment facilities can’t always filter them out.

“By flushing them, you’re undermining the safety and cleanliness of our water supply,” Kaul said.

Drug return events like these can ultimately help people with addiction and prevent overdose deaths, said Michelle Haese, director of substance use initiatives at the state Department of Health Services.

“Wisconsin continues to fight a good fight against the opioid epidemic, and we know that was fueled by prescription drug misuse,” Haese said.

Overdose deaths are down nationally and in Wisconsin. Haese said her department can’t credit this decline to any single program, but that “Drug Take Back Days” helped.

“The misuse of prescription drugs often starts innocently enough,” such as lingering pain pills after a surgery, Haese said. “By bringing your unused meds to a ‘Take Back Day’ collection site, you’re preventing misuse before it ever starts. You’re protecting your loved ones and you’re protecting your community.”

Wisconsinites can return prescription and over-the-counter medications like pills, creams and inhalers at designated collection sites.

Officials spoke at Forward Pharmacy Monona, a participating site. Monona, outside of Madison, with a population of 8,650, has collected about 840 pounds of prescription medication in two years, according to Police Chief Brian Chaney.

Listen to the WPR report

Attorney General urges Wisconsinites to drop off old medications was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.