TRAVERSE CITY (AP) -- Saturday is National Drug Take Back Day. The Take Back Day is an effort to stop the abuse of prescription drugs by encouraging the community to turn in outdated and unused medications.
Law enforcement agencies across northern Michigan are joining forces with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to make the effort a success.
Only prescription pills will be accepted with no questions asked.
Last year, The Grand Traverse County Sheriff's Office and the Traverse City Police Department collected 14 pounds of prescriptions.
"The officers will weigh it and they report to the DEA on how much, and then next week an agent with the DEA will get a hold of us and pick it up from our evidence room and they in turn will destroy it," explains Lt. Bryan Marrow with the Grand Traverse County Sheriff's Office.
Nationally, during the DEA's first such initiative last September, the public turned in more than 121 tons of prescription drugs at nearly4,100 locations.
The federal government says 7 million people in 2009 abused prescription drugs within the previous month, up from 6.2 million in 2008.
More information can be found on the DEA's website by CLICKING HERE.
Here are a list of drop off sites around the area:
Saturday, April 30 from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Alpena:
State Police Post
3283 West Washington
Cadillac:
State Police Post
7711 South U.S. 131
Cheboygan:
State Police Post
1206 South Main Street
Houghton Lake:
State Police Post
9011 West Lake City Road
Kalkaska:
State Police Post
2089 North Birch Street
Gaylord:
State Police Post
563 South Otsego
Manistee:
State Police Post
212 Arthur Street
Petoskey:
State Police Post
1200 M-119
Traverse City:
Law Enforcement Center
851 Woodmere Ave
State Police Post
218 W. 14th Street
(Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
