Staff Report
TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS—Indiana State Police are partnering with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration on Saturday in another prescription drug take back the initiative.

Collection sites will be set up across Indiana at state police locations as well as at sites across the nation for the public to dispose of expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs. The program is aimed at preventing prescription drug abuse and theft and to get rid of the drugs safely.

This program, free and anonymous, is for liquid and pill medications.  Needles, new or used, will not be accepted for disposal.

Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses. The DEA reports that studies show a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet.

Disposing of unused medicines by flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash pose potential safety and health hazards. 

As in the past, the drugs may be dropped off at any state police post, except the post at the Indiana Toll Road. Collections times Saturday will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Also, the state police will host a drop off site from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday inside the Indiana Government Center North public entrance off of Robert Orr Plaza in Indianapolis.  This is between the government north and south buildings, immediately west of the State Capitol building.

To locate the state police post closest to your home or business, click this link for Indiana State Police on the Map. To find other locations in Indiana or across the U.S. that are participating in the drug take-back initiative, click this link to the DEA.

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