KENOSHA – April 27 is National Drug Take Back Day, and hundreds of collection sites will be open across Wisconsin for residents to turn in their unused or expired medication. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services has an interactive map that shows by county what locations are open on Saturday for that also provides addresses and directions to each site.
Kenosha County Director of Aging, Disability and Behavioral Health Kari Foss joined Spanning the State Friday ahead of the event. She said there’s a wide variety of items you can bring to a collection site.
“Any prescribed drugs, controlled or non-controlled, ointments, non-aerosol sprays,” Foss said. “We can do pet medication – what’s interesting here is that pets can often be prescribed gabapentin, which is something that’s abused.”
Foss said the two things that absolutely cannot be accepted are aerosols and sharp needles. All liquids must be in their original container.
The full list of what will be accepted is as follows:
- Capsules
- Creams
- Inhalers
- Non-aerosol sprays
- Ointments
- Patches
- Pills
- Vials
- Vape pens and e-cigarettes (with batteries removed)
Foss said the entire process is no-questions-asked, and there’s no need to remove any identifying information from pill bottles or other medication containers.
“Whether someone hands over one pill or four or five garbage bags full of medication, it goes into the custody of a law enforcement officer,” Foss said.
After collection, Foss said the Kenosha County Sheriff’s office will weigh and dispose of all turned-in drugs by incineration.
Attorney General Josh Kaul announced in November 2023 after the last Drug Take Back Day that Wisconsin had collected the most medication of any state in the U.S. with over 53,000 pounds collected. Wisconsin has collected 1.2 million pounds since National Drug Take Back started in 2010, only ranking behind Texas and California.
“We’re doing a really good job managing the prescriptions that are out there,” Foss said. “We are doing the best we can with the crisis at hand.”
If you’re not able to make it to a collection site on April 27, Foss said there’s no reason to worry – there are places you can go year-round.
“There are many medical drop lockboxes across the state,” Foss said.
A list of permanent drug collection sites can also be found on the DHS website.
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