Iowans who are doing some spring cleaning this weekend can plunk all of their bottles of unused prescription medications into a bag and drop it off on Saturday for safe, anonymous disposal. Dale Woolery, director of the Governor’s Office of Drug Control Policy, says it’s an easy process, plus, it may save a life.
The one-day take back events are held twice a year. The collection in October of 2021 netted more than six-thousand pounds of prescription meds statewide. Woolery says it’s a quick search to find a location.
These take back events are a responsible way to dispose of prescription drugs, he says, while protecting the environment from improper disposal and preventing the dangerous misuse of opioid pain relievers and other prescription drugs.
Although Iowa ranks relatively low in rates of illicit drug use and overdose deaths, studies show opioid-involved overdoses claimed the lives of 258 Iowans last year, that’s up 64% over the last two years. National data show teen overdose deaths nearly doubled during that same period.
