20th annual National Prescription Drug Take Back event returns on Saturday
Local law enforcement participating in nationwide event
Special to the Daily
Local law enforcement agencies will be participating in the 20th annual National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on Saturday. Law enforcement personnel will be on-site and hosting collection sites from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the following locations :
- Vail Police Department: Vail Municipal Bldg, at 75 S. Frontage Road, Vail CO 81657
- Avon Police Department: Walmart, 171 Yoder Ave., Avon, CO 81620
- Eagle County Sheriff’s Office: City Market Eagle, 103 Market Street, Eagle, CO 81631
- Carbondale Police Department: Police Station, 511 Colorado Ave #911, Carbondale, CO 81623
This is an opportunity to clean out medicine cabinets of all unwanted, expired or unused medications and have them disposed of safely. The service is free and anonymous with no questions asked.
Items that can be dropped off during the Saturday event are vitamins, supplements, medicated ointments/lotions, over-the-counter and prescription medications, including controlled substances (narcotics). No needles (sharps) or pressurized canisters will be accepted.
Getting rid of unused medication helps prevent the accidental and intentional misuse of prescription medications.
The collected items will be incinerated in an environmentally friendly manner by the Drug Enforcement Administration, which spearheads the national effort. Locally, the DEA’s National Take Back initiative is coordinated by the Safe Drug Disposal Program, which is a partnership among local agencies including the Vail Police Department, Avon Police Department, Eagle County Sheriff’s Office, Carbondale Police Department, Basalt Police Department, Glenwood Springs Police Department, Vail Health, Eagle County and the Eagle River Water & Sanitation District.
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Latest Take Back stats
In October 2020, Americans turned in 985,392 pounds of prescription drugs at 4,587 sites set up by the DEA and its 4,153 participating law enforcement and community partners across the nation. In Colorado, 49 law enforcement agencies collected 12,800 pounds of prescription drugs at 75 sites. The previous 19 DEA-coordinated Take Back events nationwide since 2010 have removed more than 13 million pounds of prescription medications from circulation (318,684 pounds in Colorado).
Year-round disposal sites
Local law enforcement agencies offer permanent, year-round medication take-back receptacles at the following locations during business hours:
- Vail Police Department, 75 S. Frontage Road, Vail, CO 81657
- Avon Police Department, 60 Buck Creek Raod, Avon, CO 81620
- Eagle County Sheriff’s Office, 0885 E. Chambers Ave, Eagle CO 81631
- Carbondale Police Department, 511 Colorado Ave # 911, Carbondale, CO 81623
- Basalt Police Department, 100 Elk Run Drive, STE 115, Basalt, CO 81621
- Glenwood Springs Police Department, 101 W 8th St, Glenwood Springs, CO 81601
Other businesses that can accept unwanted medications are The Vail Pharmacy at Vail Health Hospital, the Edwards Pharmacy at the Shaw Pavilion, and the Vail Valley Pharmacy in Edwards. These businesses can also accept unwanted medications, free of charge, during regular business hours. These businesses cannot accept controlled substances as those may only be collected by law enforcement agencies.
For more information, and to find a drug drop location near you, visit http://www.takemedsback.org.
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