MADISON, Wis. — Saturday was Prescription Drug Take Back Day across the nation. 

What You Need To Know

  • Communities across Wisconsin provided residents with opportunities to safely get rid of any unused or unwanted medication

  • While it might sound easy to just flush medication down the toilet, that can be harmful to the environment

  • Leaving drugs lying around could mean they end up in the wrong hands

  • There are permanent locations to drop off medications across the state

Communities across Wisconsin provided residents with opportunities to safely get rid of any unused or unwanted medication.

There are many reasons why someone might choose to dispose of their old medications during Drug Take Back Day.

Some, like Dan Lickel, do it to protect the environment.

“I don’t want to dump things down the drain and have them go into the environment, so it was important to dispose of them correctly,” Lickel said.

Others, like Linda Wolfe, do it to protect their loved ones.

“We have a six-year-old granddaughter that’s around, and I just wanted them out of the house,” she said.

Whatever the reason, health leaders said they want people to know that anyone can drop off old medication at these events, no questions asked.

“We accept basically anything,” said Tom Duval, Injury Prevention Project Coordinator with Safe Communities Madison Dane County. “We don’t accept needles, we don’t accept illegal drugs. But anything else can really be taken here during this time.”

While it might sound easy to just flush medication down the toilet, Duval said that can be harmful to the environment.

“We have the police department working with us, the Madison Police Department and also the sheriff’s department who were here to collect the medications,” he said. “Then we take it all and have it disposed of in a safe environmental way.”

He said it can be just as unsafe to have it lying around the house.

“Misuse can lead to a lot of drug overdoses and the misuse of teenagers or kids with the medicine cabinet,” Duval said. “I mean, we have a bunch of medications that look a bunch of different colors and all that.”

For Lickel, it brings him peace of mind, knowing old medications aren’t cluttering up his home.

“The ones that I dropped off today I’ve had probably for four or five years,” he said. “So, if you’ve got them lying around, get rid of them, clean out your drawers, and it’s a great way to get rid of it.”

If you missed Saturday’s Drug Take Back events, there is plenty of permanent drug drop off sites across from the state. To find the site near you, click here.