Van Wert residents participate in Prescription Drug Take-Back Day

Chief Raymond Hite, Jr. said that the Take-Back Day was a tremendous success locally as his department collected over 50 pounds of prescription drugs.

Each collection station was manned by a county officer and a DEA representative who also answered questions about prescription drug abuse, keeping drugs out of the wrong hands and the harm to the environment, our water system if drugs are flushed down the toilet.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration officials coordinated the event which offers a way to get rid of old medications so they are not accidentally used or intentionally abused.

Gov. Shumlin said, “Prescription drugs that fall into the wrong hands, on objective or by accident, can help fuel addiction, crime and in a few cases the loss of life”. “We are grateful to every resident in Ohio who took time out of their busy day on Saturday to bring their medications to a drop off location”.

That’s the quantity of drugs Canton residents dropped off Saturday, September 26, during a four-hour drug take-back program at the police station.

According to the DEA, nine previous nationwide Prescription Drug Take-Back Day events have removed more than 4,823,251 pounds, or 2,411 tons, of prescription drugs from circulation.