The Sioux City Police Department and Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office collect 265 pounds of unused prescription medication during National Drug Take Back Day on Oct. 26 at nine locations throughout Sioux City.
“Often, people may have left over medication or medication of a loved one that recently passed that they are not sure what to do with,” Said Sgt. Jeremy McClure, Community Policing Sergeant for the department.
The unused medication was turned into the Drug Enforcement Agency for proper disposal.
National Drug Take Back Day is a bi-annual event sponsored by the Drug Enforcement Agency and provides a way for people to dispose of unused medication in an environmentally sound way. It also helps reduce opportunities for these drugs to be abused.
“It is illegal to possess someone else’s prescription and frequently we find people in possession or abusing someone else’s medication,” said McClure.
The next Drug Take Back Day is planned for some time in April. When a date is decided, it will be released to the public. People with medication that needs disposed before then can use the drop box located in the Police Department lobby.