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Drug Take-Back Sees Third Highest Collection in 8 Years

The National Prescription Drug Take-Back event took place Friday and Saturday in Boone County. Officials collected 826 pounds of medications from seven locations throughout the county. This year’s event collected the third-highest amount of medications since the program began eight years ago. Major Tom Reddin, chief deputy in Boone County, says the take-back events remove a lot of potentially dangerous drugs from the county.

“They’re not falling into the wrong hands, they’re not contaminating the environment, and nobody is dying or overdosing from them. So yeah, that’s good stuff,” Reddin says.

Michelle Shikles of Boone County Public Health and Human Services says the drug take backs are beneficial.

“Just getting those medications out of the cabinet removes that temptation to misuse it later,” Shikles says.

Shikles says that since Missouri is experiencing an opioid epidemic, programs like this are the more important. The collected medications are picked up by the national Drug Enforcement Agency and taken to an incineration facility to be destroyed. The event takes place twice annually, and the next one is set for this fall.

Jamie Hobbs hails from Southeastern Missouri, and is a senior at the Missouri School of Journalism. She is also studying Spanish. She specializes in reporting stories on the environment and human rights.