Penn Township drug take back program gets 84 pounds of unused meds

Joe Napsha
Monday, Nov. 8, 2021 10:39 a.m. | Monday, Nov. 8, 2021 10:39 a.m.

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Courtesy of Bruno Mediate

Drug takeback participants at Giant Eagle in Harrison City are, from left, Penn Township Officer Blaine Danoski, the Rev. Roger Steiner of the Brush Creek Evangelical Lutheran Church and Joy Clontz.

Penn Township police and Penn Township Citizens for Drug Awareness collected 84-½ pounds of unused and expired prescription drugs during last month’s National Drug Take Back event held locally in the Giant Eagle parking lot at Penn Crossing, Harrison City.

Sixty-one residents took advantage of the opportunity to drop off unused and expired prescriptions, filling five large cardboard boxes, said Bruno Mediate, a spokesman for the Citizens for Drug Awareness organization.

The drugs were collected by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which then will be destroyed in a manner that protects the environment. Unused prescriptions thrown in the trash can be retrieved, abused or illegally sold. If flushed down the toilet, they can contaminate the water supply, Mediate said.

Unused or expired prescription drugs can be dropped off throughout the year, between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday-Friday, in a collection box inside the Penn Township Police Station at 2000 Commercial Court off Sandy Hill Road.

For more information about the Citizens for Drug Awareness group, visit www.ptcda.org.