A number of people turned out for the local National Prescription Drug Take Back Day event on Saturday.
The Saline County Sheriff's Office collected 199.2 pounds of unused/unneeded prescription medications at its two collection sites at Walmart and Sam's Club, Saline County Undersheriff Brent Melander said this morning.
If you were not able to take your medications to one of the above locations, you can drop them off in the red collection bin in the lobby of the sheriff's office, 251 North 10th Street, between 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding county holidays.
The sheriff's office then takes care of properly disposing of the medications to keep them from being misused by others. Melander said personnel at the Salina Landfill dig a deep hole and bury the collected medications, packing down the dirt on top of the medications to make sure they don't get misused.
Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse and abuse. Nationwide, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates opioid overdoses kill nearly 130 Americans every day. According to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, pharmaceutical opioids are a leading cause of drug poisoning deaths in Kansas.
Studies show a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet.