Free prescription drug Takeback event coming up in Hyrum

HYRUM – If you have old prescription medication hanging around the house or in the medicine cabinet, now may be a good time to get rid of it.

A free Prescription Drug Takeback event is being held on November 2 at Elite Hall on 98 W Main Street in Hyrum from 10 am to 2 pm.

The event is sponsored by Bear River Health Department, Logan City Environmental Department and the Cache County Sheriff’s Department.

“In Utah, we know that about 74% of those that are currently addicted to opioids get the opioids from friends or family members,” according to David Watkins, Bear River Health Department Prevention Coordinator.

“The Takeback event allows families the opportunity to clean out their medicine cabinets to ensure no left over medications are misused. It also helps raise awareness about the need to dispose of unused medication properly to eliminate from our homes any potential hazards that might occur from opioid misuse,” he added.

It’s also important that people refrain from flushing unused medications down the toilet where they could enter the waste stream.

“We don’t have a great way to get those chemicals out of the water once they’ve gone through the sewage system and end up in out waste water treatment plant,” according to Logan City’s Emily Malik. “Those medications can just stay in that water and be released into the environment, so it’s much better for residents to use the Takeback event or one of the drop locations throughout Cache County.”

Malik said they will also be distributing prescription drug disposal bags at the event as an alternative to drop locations.

“So (residents) can take these home and empty the prescription drugs into the bag. It activates the substance that neutralizes the medication, then you can put that into your garbage cans,” she said.

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