DRUG TAKE BACK

On Saturday, April 25th, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., the Logan County Sheriff’s Office, Booneville Police Department, and the Paris Police Department will be participating in drug takeback events in Logan County.

Bring your pills for disposal to WalMart Supercenter in Booneville at 1400 E Main Street (Highway 10) or Harps in Paris at 1004 East Walnut Street (Highway 22). (Sites cannot accept liquids or needles or sharps, only pills or patches.) The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

In 2024 Americans turned in nearly 460 tons (more than 900,000 pounds) of prescription drugs at more than 5,800 sites operated by the DEA and almost 4,800 of its state and local law enforcement partners. Previous Take Back events have taken in over 11 million pounds—nearly 5,500 tons—of pills.

This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health shows year after year that the majority of misused and abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including someone else’s medication being stolen from the home medicine cabinet. In addition, Americans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines—flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash—both pose potential safety and health hazards.