On Saturday, April. 24, from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m., the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office, Port Angeles Police Department, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will provide the public an opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs. Bring your pills for disposal to the Clallam County courthouse at 223 E. 4th Street in Port Angeles. Vaping pens and cartridges will also be accepted (please remove batteries), however sites cannot accept liquids, needles or sharps, only pills or patches.

The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked. To accommodate social distancing and COVID-19 safety protocols, citizens can simply drive through in front of the incident command motorhome in the northwest corner of the parking lot (by jail entrance).

This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the United States are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. The FDA also provides information on how to properly dispose of prescription drugs. More information is available here: https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/where-and-how-dispose-unused-medicines.

This April’s event is DEA’s 20th nationwide event since it began 11 years ago.

Last fall, Americans turned in 985,392 pounds of prescription drugs at 4,587 collection sites. The DEA, along with its law enforcement partners, has now collected nearly 6,842 tons of expired, unused, and unwanted prescription medications since the inception of the National Prescription Drug Take Back Initiative in 2010.

Also, independently though Med-Project LLC, individuals can drop off their unwanted drugs and medications during the rest of the year at Med-Project kiosks in the Sequim Police Department located in the Civic Center 152 West Cedar in Sequim and at the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office in the County Courthouse 223 East 4th Street in Port Angeles during regular business hours.

In Forks, Med-Project kiosks can be found at Chinook Pharmacy and at the Forks Police Department.