MCSO collects 3,000 pounds of medication in Drug Take-Back Initiative

The Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office collected 3,000 pounds of medication through its annual Drug Take-Back Initiative, Sheriff John Darr announced Tuesday morning at a press conference.

The program encourages residents to properly dispose of their medication by dropping it off at the drop boxes provided at area pharmacies, including the CVS on Double Churches Road, the Dinglewood Pharmacy on Wynnton Road and the North Columbus Pharmacy on Veterans Parkway. Those drugs will then turned over to the Drug Enforcement Agency.

“Everyone knows that one of the biggest problems any community is facing right now is abuse of prescription medication,” Darr said. “Unfortunately, it’s a rising trend. This is just what we think, as the Sheriff’s Office, as a small way to do our part within this community to try to keep as much of this prescription medication out of individuals’ hands.”

With the 114 pounds of medication collected Saturday and a total of 3,000 collected throughout the year, this year’s effort didn’t prove to be as successful as the others. In 2015, the program brought in 21,000 pounds of drugs by late September.

Darr said it’s important that residents continue to support the cause.

“We don’t want it in our water systems,” Darr said. “We don’t want it in the city dumps, and we don’t want it falling into the wrong hands.”

Those still interesting in dropping off their medication can do so at the Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office on the 4th floor of the Columbus Consolidated Government Center or the Citizens Service Center on Macon Road during normal business hours.

This story was originally published May 3, 2016 at 4:30 PM with the headline "MCSO collects 3,000 pounds of medication in Drug Take-Back Initiative."