COLUMBUS – While prescription opiate-related overdose deaths in Ohio last year fell to an eight-year low, the state still spends $1 billion fighting the scourge of the drugs, which are legal and often obtained, not on the street, but from a user’s family medicine cabinet.
That is the reason the Drug Enforcement Administration and local authorities hold Prescription Drug Take-Back Day twice a year, the next one scheduled for Saturday from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.
Columbus Public Health will host its Drug Drop-Off event at its offices at 240 Parsons Avenue while other sites can be found at six central Ohio Kroger stores.
See the list of participating locations here.
According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 73 percent of pain pills that are misused are either prescribed by a doctor or are received for free from a friend or family member.
Drugs flushed down the toilet can end up in the water system and medicines thrown in the trash can eventually make their way into ground and surface water, health officials say.
In its last drug drop-off event in April, Columbus Public Health collected more than 30 pounds of medicine and more than 2,000 syringes for safe disposal.