COLUMBUS, Ohio – Prescription drug abuse has become a major problem in Ohio – and Saturday has been set aside as a day to get rid of expired or unused medications in homes before they get into the wrong hands.
Ohio officials say deaths from accidental overdoses of prescription drugs increased nearly 400 percent between 1999 and 2010.
Saturday is National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, and the federal Drug Enforcement Agency is working with Ohio’s local law enforcement agencies, collecting unwanted medications to prevent their abuse and theft.
“What we don’t want is the drugs to remain in the medicine cabinet. Four out of 10 teens abuse prescription drugs, and the main place that they obtain these drugs is from a medicine cabinet,” says Jesse Wimberly, of the Ohio State Board of Pharmacy.
Law enforcement agencies at dozens of locations throughout central Ohio will collect unused medications, including controlled substances, with no questions asked.
Some locations where you can drop off prescription drugs Saturday:
Hilliard Division of Police, 5171 Northwest Parkway 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.
Upper Arlington’s Police Division, Municipal Services Center, 3600 Tremont Road 10 a.m. – Noon
OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital
(Riverside Women’s Health Center off Thomas Lane west of Olentangy River Rd.) 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
OhioHealth Dublin Methodist Hospital 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
OhioHealth Doctors Hospital 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
OhioHealth Westerville Medical Campus 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
OhioHealth Grady Memorial Hospital 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
OhioHealth Eastside Health Center 10 a.m.-2 p.m.