Allegheny County Police taking part in DEA's prescription drug take-back day

It’s become an important part of the fall calendar and taken on even greater meaning in the midst of the drug overdose epidemic.

The Drug Enforcement Agency’s National Take-Back Day is set for Saturday and once again the Allegheny County Police Department is participating. The event is taking place at three sites in the county from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The DEA’s 21^st biannual event is an opportunity for people to hand over expired, unwanted or unused pharmaceutical controlled substances and other medications to law enforcement officers who then destroy them.

“We have seen first-hand how drugs can devastate a person, a family and a community,” said Allegheny County Police Superintendent Christopher Kearns. “Hosting the Drug Take Back Day twice a year provides residents with an opportunity to remove temptation from those who are struggling with addiction and ensure that medications do not end up being used by anyone else.”

Any over-the-counter, controlled substance or prescription-required drugs can be dropped off at North Park Police Station, 700 West Ridge Drive, McCandless; South Park Police Station, 1801 Brownsville Road, South Park; and Wilmerding Police Substation, 315 Station Street, Wilmerding.

Tablets, capsules, ointments, creams, and liquids will be accepted in packaging. It’s not required to take medicines out of the original package or container. For safety reasons, sharpies and syringes will not be accepted.

No questions or requests for identification will be made by law enforcement personnel to anyone submitting medications. Illicit substances such as marijuana or methamphetamine are not part of this initiative and should not be placed in collection boxes, Allegheny County Police said.

The event held last April pulled in 420 tons of medicines. More than 7,262 tons of unwanted medicines have been collected in the history of the event.