Medication take-back day offers two locations in county
EAU CLAIRE — In accordance with National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day the county of Eau Claire is offering two locations for people to drop off medications that are not being used.
The event will be on April 27 between 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The two locations offered by the county are at the Altoona Emergency Services Building on 1904 Spooner Avenue and The Eau Claire County Government Center at 721 Oxford Avenue.
Sarah Dillivan-Pospisil, the public health specialist for the Eau Claire City-County Health Department, said that the take-back day is important because it educates people on how to safely dispose of medication.
To drop off the medications people will have to start by looking at what they don’t need and getting rid of any information on the label that may be personal, said Dillivan-Pospisil.
The prescription and over-the-counter medications can then be given to the two locations in the county, said Dillivan-Pospisil. The medications can be anything from creams, inhalers, ointments, non-aerosol sprays, patches, pet medications, and vials.
According to the press release from the Eau Claire City-County Health Department, turning in medications in blister packs is fine as long as the medication is not taken out. Another packaging requirement is to keep liquid medications in its original containers.
“We encourage residents to safely dispose of expired or unwanted medications at drop off locations,” said Dillivan-Pospisil. “Dropping off medications is anonymous, fast, and free!”
The government center will offer curbside drop-off, said Dillivan-Pospisil.
“If you’re dropping off at the Eau Claire County Government Center, you don’t even need to get out of your car,” said Dillivan-Pospisil. “Just pull up next to the take-back day signs in front of the main entrance and roll down your car window — our volunteers will take it from there.”
Scott Kelley, the lieutenant of the Altoona Police Department, said to drop off medications at the Altoona location, people will drive into the parking lot and there will be a garage bay that people can drive through.
“They don’t even have to get out of the car,” said Kelley. “They can just drop their medication off with a volunteer and they can drive right out.”
Kelley said the reason for this different process is because their building is under construction.
According to the press release, the county has taken back more than 39,000 pounds of medication since 2012 through events like the one on Saturday or drop boxes.
“Keeping unused medications inside your house makes it more likely other people may find and misuse them,” said Dillivan-Pospisil. “That can lead to an overdose or accidental poisoning. Disposing of your unused medications could help save a life.”
While Altoona does have some instances of people getting access to medications that aren’t for them, there is a more common issue for the city, said Kelley. People who don’t know how to dispose of medications will throw them away or flush them which can cause trouble for water treatment facilities.
Dillivan-Pospisil also warned against flushing or pouring medications down the drain.
“We don’t want these medications turning up in our bodies of water, and water reclamation facilities aren’t designed to remove them from our water supply,” said Dillivan-Pospisil.
She also said that people can also get medication lock boxes and lock bags at the event to have a safe place for medication.
If people are unable to turn in their medications on Saturday they can turn them in in one of ten locations available at any point of the year, including seven located in Eau Claire, and one each in Altoona, Augusta, and Fall Creek. More information on exact spaces can be found at ECHealthAlliance.org/resources under Drug take-back locations in Eau Claire County.
