Wisconsin Drug Take Back Day Nets Over 55K Pounds Of Prescriptions

WISCONSIN — The Badger State led the nation in this spring's drug take-back event with over 55,000 pounds of medications collected, according to a news release from Attorney General Josh Kaul.

Since the program began in 2010, over 1,100,000 unwanted medications have been collected in Wisconsin, the news release said. The Drug Enforcement Administration runs the program through various local police agencies. Wisconsin ranks third in the nation in the amount of drugs collected since the program's inception.

Two of the events are held each year, one in spring and one in the fall. You can also find a full list of permanent collection boxes through the Wisconsin Department of Health Services website.

The program's goal is to not only prevent unused medications from being stolen or misused, but to ensure that pharmaceutical substances stay out of our water supplies, according to the Wisconsin Department of Justice.

“Wisconsin’s Drug Take Back once again led the nation thanks to the hard work and collaboration of many partners and, of course, the many Wisconsinites who participated by safely disposing of their unused and unneeded medications,” said Attorney General Kaul in the release. “Thank you to everyone who helped make this effort such a success.”