DAYTON, Ohio — Attorney General Dave Yost's second Drug Dropoff Day held Saturday in Montgomery and Clark counties elicited 711 pounds of unused prescription drugs, his office announced Monday. 

That's close to double what was collected in Yost's first Drug Dropoff Day — held July 31 at two sites each in Franklin, Fayette and Scioto counties — which yielded 446 pounds of medications.

"Ohioans in these areas kicked off 2022 right by cleaning out their medicine cabinets — out with the old unused prescription medications and in with new safe storage at home,” Yost said. “Flushing unused prescriptions down the drain is not an environmentally friendly way of disposal, which is why these dropoff days are so beneficial."

The three sites that collected and how much they received were:

• Dayton Fire Station 11, 145 S. Warren St. in Dayton which collected 495 pounds of drugs and 40 pounds of sharps
• Utilities Department, 3130 E. Main St. in Springfield, which collected 63 pounds of drugs
• Tecumseh School, 10000 W. National Rd. in New Carlisle, which collected 112 pounds of drugs

“Seven-hundred pounds of prescription drugs is equal to the weight of a vending machine,” Yost said. “Clearly, removing such a heavy load of medications from our communities is not a one-person job, so we are thankful for our partners and for the Ohioans who answered our call to drop off their medications.”

In Ohio, drug overdose deaths jumped 26% within a 12-month period from April 2020 to April 2021, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

In the same time period, the U.S. had more than 100,000 drug overdose deaths for the first time. Nationally, there was an over 28% increase in drug overdose deaths.