West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced his office been involved in this weekend’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day by partnering with law enforcement and substance abuse prevention groups across West Virginia.
Representatives from the Attorney General’s Office assist state agencies and groups in staffing take back sites around the state Friday, April 29 and Saturday, April 30.
The Attorney General’s Office also coordinate with Capitol Police and the state Department of Homeland Security at a take back location from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, at the State Capitol Complex Safe Zone adjacent to the Culture Center at the Greenbrier/Washington Street entrance.
“This is a very important event,” Attorney General Morrisey said. “I encourage anyone who has unused or unwanted prescription medications to participate so we can get potentially dangerous drugs off the streets. Take Back Day has the potential to both reduce diversion of prescription opioids and help identify overprescribing in our state.”
The Attorney General’s Office has participated in the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day each year since 2013. The office’s locations this weekend will be among more than 75 collection sites in West Virginia.
Elsewhere this weekend, the Attorney General’s Office will assist the Logan County Sheriff’s Office at the Community Park in Man on Friday; the Beckley Police Department and the Raleigh County Prevention Coalition at the Raleigh County Commission on Aging in Beckley; the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office on Raleigh Street in Martinsburg and the Morgantown Police Department at Sabraton Kroger Pharmacy in Morgantown, all on Saturday.
The DEA spearheads Drug Take Back Day, which was launched in 2010. During the event, local and state law enforcement agencies collect unused medication and responsibly dispose of it. The DEA typically hosts two prescription drug take back days per year with one in the spring and one in the fall.
The Attorney General Public Health Trust previously awarded prescription drug incinerators to law enforcement agencies across the state. The incinerators are used to destroy unwanted/expired pills and are shared among law enforcement agencies.
The incinerators were awarded through the Dispose Responsibly of Prescriptions (DRoP) initiative, which also distributed drug disposal drop boxes throughout the state.
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