PRESS RELEASE: Madison County State's Attorney, Coroner, and Sheriff encourage residents to participate in Drug Take Back Day

Edwardsville— Madison County State's Attorney Tom Gibbons, Coroner Steve Nonn, and Sheriff John Lakin are once again encouraging Madison County residents to participate in the Drug Take-Back Day.

On Saturday, Oct. 24, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Madison County residents are encouraged to take advantage of our convenient drive-through to bring their expired, or unwanted, prescriptions and over-the-counter medications to Edwardsville as part of the National Take-Back Initiative sponsored by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). In order to properly comply with Center for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines for slowing the spread of COVID-19, collection site officials will be wearing masks. The public is also asked to wear masks as they drive through the collection site.

Last fall Americans turned in nearly 441 tons (more than 882,000 pounds) of prescription drugs at nearly 6,100 sites operated by the DEA and almost 5,000 of its state and local law enforcement partners. Overall, in its 17 previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners have taken in more than 12.6 million pounds—approximately 6,350 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 United States 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.

The county-wide drop off will take place in the Madison County Administration Building’s back parking lot on Second Street in Edwardsville: Madison County Administration Building, 157 North Main Street, Edwardsville, IL 62025.

Officials will accept the following unused or expired medications:
- Prescription tablets and capsules
- Small, pint size bottles of cough syrup (cap must be securely fastened)
- Over the counter tablets and capsules
- Vitamins

Officials will not accept the following drugs:
- Needles and syringes
- Air cylinders (inhalers or Oxygen tanks)
- Illicit substances (heroin or marijuana)

There will be free prescription lock bags for the first 10 individuals who bring their medications to the site. This take-back service is free and anonymous to protect the anonymity of individuals disposing medications. No questions or requests for identification will be made.

Residents are to be reminded their unused or expired medications can be dropped off year-round at designated 24/7 drop-off locations. To find a list of year-round disposal locations, visit https://apps2.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/pubdispsearch/spring/main?execution=e1s1. For more information, contact the Madison County State’s Attorney’s Office at (618) 692-6280 or SAinfo@co.madison.il.us.