Over 600 Lbs Of Unwanted Meds Collected During Prescription Drug Take-Back Day

PETALUMA, CA -- Hundreds of pounds of unwanted medication are now out of local homes and in safe hands thanks in part to a special program that the Petaluma Police Dept. took part in last weekend.

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sat. April 29, Petaluma police participated in the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, an event that gives the public the opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous, expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs.

Numerous citizens turned in their unused medications to the Petaluma Police Department. In total, the Petaluma Police Department says, it collected about 600 pounds of medication during the take back event.

In past take backs, over 350 tons of prescription drugs at sites operated by the DEA and its thousands of state and local law enforcement partners were turned in for disposal. When those results are combined with what was collected in its previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners have taken in over 5.5 million pounds of drugs, the PPD says.

Images via Petaluma police