Welcome to Skagit County

October 12, 2016

Don’t toss your prescription meds: Drug Take-Back day is Oct. 22

Do you have unused prescription drugs in your medicine cabinet? Do you know how to safely dispose of them?

In Skagit County, Oct. 22 is Drug Take-Back Day – but you can make any day a drug take-back day by bringing your old prescription medication to one of five secure disposal sites around the county: The Anacortes Police Department, Mount Vernon Police Department, Swinomish Tribal Police Department, Skagit County Sheriff’s Office or Sedro-Woolley Police Department.

“The majority of people who abuse prescription pain medication get the pills from friends or family,” said Skagit County Public Health Director Jennifer Johnson. “Safely getting rid of your old medication is the best way to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands.”

Secure disposal of old, unused medication is also environmentally sound. In many areas around the country, studies have detected a variety of pharmaceutical drugs in the water supply, mainly due to people flushing unused medication down the toilet.

If you don’t live near a drug take-back location in Skagit County, the best way to dispose of medication is by mixing it (not crushing it) with dirt, kitty litter or used coffee grounds, sealing it in a plastic bag, and burying the bag in your household trash. The goal is to prevent medication from leaching into the groundwater while also deterring those who might seek to abuse unused pills.

Find more information about safe medication disposal online here.

For questions or more details, please contact Sarah Hinman at sarahh@co.skagit.wa.us or 360-416-1507.