At least five area locations are scheduled for the national initiative to collect unused and / or expired prescription drugs later this month.


The collection effort is listed for locations in Unionville, Princeton, Hamilton and two sites in Gallatin to allow the public to safely dispose of accumulated unwanted, unused medications.

FRIDAY September 28th is the date for the “take back drugs” collection effort in Unionville. It will be from 11 to 1 o'clock at the Warner Drug Store (108 South 17th). The Putnam County Health Department said items accepted include prescription and over-the-counter medications; vitamins; samples; medications for pets;
medicated ointments and lotions; as well as liquid medication that is in glass or
leak-proof containers.

Items NOT accepted at the Unionville site are needles, thermometers; bloody or infectious waste; hydrogen peroxide and inhalers.

Other locations participating in the National Take Back drugs initiative are scheduled for collections on Saturday September 29th from 10 until 2 o'clock.

According to the Department of Justice web site: these include Mercer County Sheriff's Office in Princeton; the Daviess County Sheriff's office in Gallatin; the ShopKo store in Gallatin on behalf of Gallatin Police; and in the parking lot of the Hamilton Police Department.

Grundy County Sheriff Rodney Herring said he did not signup for the September 29th collection due to involvement in the community health fair being
held in Trenton that day, but Sheriff Herring explained all unwanted and expired medications can be taken to the law enforcement center ANYTIME that the sheriff's office is open.

Those medications, he said, will be stored for disposal with the take-back initiative next spring.

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, the most recent DEA-led National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day April 28th resulted in a record-breaking 552 thousand pounds (276 tons) of unwanted or expired medications that were safely and properly disposed of. There were more than 56 hundred take-back sites that were available in all 50 states and U.S. territories. When the results of the four Take-Back Days (to date) are combined, the DEA and its state, local, and tribal law-enforcement and community partners have removed over one and a half million pounds (774 tons) of medications from circulation.