(Spirit Lake)– You’ll have a special opportunity Saturday to properly dispose of expired or unwanted prescription medications. Sue Boettcher, Human Sciences Program Coordinator with the Dickinson County Office of Iowa State University Extension and Outreach tells KUOO news the National Drug Take Back Day is coming up this Saturday, October 26th…
“The Spirit Lake Police Department will be at the Spirit Lake Hy-Vee from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm on Saturday, but there are also drop off boxes that are available year around here in Dickinson county. The Lewis Family Drug has one right up by their counter; Hy-Vee Pharmacy has one and at the west entrance to the Dickinson County Courthouse there is a box that looks similar to a post office box, but it is there for dropping off drugs as well.”
Boettcher says keeping prescription drugs out of the hands of those for whom they are not intended is very important for a number of reasons…
“It’s very important don’t share your prescription medications. They are prescribed for you, so you shouldn’t be letting others use them. And have limited access. Everyone knows to keep the medicine out of the reach of children, but once your children become teens there’s a good chance they can reach all medicines in your home, and that’s what they’re seeing that we’ve been having issues with of teens or other people using other people’s prescription medications. That is unsafe and can lead to addictions and we just want to keep everybody safe.”
Boettcher says it’s a good idea to keep any prescription medications in a secure location and lock them up if possible.
