Get That Stuff Out of the House—Putnam's Drug Take Back Day

The Putnam Sheriff's Office in partnership with Putnam County Communities that Care Coalition and the Department of Health is participating in the National Drug Prescription Take Back Day this Saturday.

If you have outdated and unused prescriptions in your cabinets please bring them to the Putnam Hospital Center Wagner Cancer Pavilion, on Stoneleigh Avenue in Carmel on Take Back Day between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. April 26. They will be disposed of safely.

This program is an effort to prevent such controlled substances and other drugs from being abused, particularly by young people in our community. Such drugs present a health hazard both from the standpoint of abuse as well as accidental overdose. 

More than seven million Americans currently abuse prescription medications according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Studies show the majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including the home medicine cabinet.

Health officials used to tell everyone to flush old medicines down the toilet—until they realized the extent to which drugs were polluting New York waters. 

Keep medications in the original packaging if possible—you can use a marker, pen or tape to black out personal information.