Spectrum Health Lakeland holding National Drug Take Back Day Saturday

ST. JOSEPH,  Mich. --Spectrum Health Lakeland is holding it's Prescription Drug Take-Back Day Saturday, Oct. 23 from 10 a.m to 2 p.m. at the Center for Outpatient Service.

The community is encouraged to stop by to dispose of their unwanted prescription drugs.

“We want medications that people don’t need or haven’t been taking to bring them to us,” Spectrum Health Lakeland, Senior Improvement Specialist Beverley Robbins said.

The Berrien County Sheriff’s Department is partnering with Spectrum Health Lakeland at the collection site to ensure expired and unused prescription drugs are disposed of correctly. You can drive up to the Center for Outpatient Services.

Drug Take-Back Day is a national event that happens twice a year. It’s aimed at reducing the risk of addiction by keeping these medications out of reach of people who may otherwise misuse, resell or abuse them.

In April, 420 tons of medication and medical supplies were collected and disposed of at more than 5,000 collection sites across the country.

Robbins with Spectrum Health Lakeland said they want to educate community members on how to store and dispose of drugs properly and help get expired drugs out of homes.

“It’s very common for misuse to occur, so somebody could take that medication by mistake, we don’t want children to get into any medication of course pets and we just don’t want any medications diverted into the community,” Robbins said.

Items you can drop off include: medication pills, capsules, prescription cough medicine, inhalers, and medication patches.

To find a collection site near you click here