Toss Old Meds Safely Saturday

Montgomery County residents can safely dispose of expired, unused or unwanted prescription drugs Saturday during “Prescription Drug Take Back Day.”

Montgomery County Police Department’s 5th District station, at 20000 Aircraft Dr., Germantown, will be accepting dropped-off meds between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. The medications collected at the six Montgomery County Police districts will be burned.

The initiative — coordinated by the Washington Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) — began in September 2010 as a push to deter pill abuse and theft.

The DEA is particularly interested in medications containing controlled substances, but will accept any prescription medicines brought for disposal. Illegal drugs and needles cannot be accepted as a part of this program.

If possible, prescription labels should be removed or personal information should be blacked out; but pill bottles will still be accepted if the labels are attached. No questions will be asked. This is an opportunity to safely clean out a medicine cabinet of drugs that are no longer needed. 

More information about safely disposing old medications is available on the DEA’s website.