Medication Take Back Day – Saturday, April 28, 2018

If you have a medicine cabinet full of old medication, you will want to mark your calendar for an upcoming medication take-back day on Saturday, April 28th.

The Putnam Communities That Care Coalition, in collaboration with the Putnam County Health Department and Putnam County Sheriff’s Department, will be holding the "Spring Medication Take Back" event at the Putnam Hospital Center from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Medication Take Back Day is safe, good for the environment and can save lives. By bringing in expired or unwanted medications to a take back day, you insure that it will be disposed of in a safe manner, according to the Sheriff's Department.

Members of the Sheriff’s Department will be present to secure and dispose of the medications. By doing so, you also insure that there are no “accidental” poisonings/overdoses by leaving unwanted prescriptions in your home.

When you participate in Medication Take Back Day, you don’t have to worry about causing harm to the environment by flushing medications down the toilet or disposing of them in your trash. Medicines that are flushed down the drain or that leach from landfills eventually end up in our waterways. Pharmaceuticals have become a significant water pollutant nationwide.

In addition, prescription drug abuse is the fastest growing drug problem in the U.S. today. Home medicine cabinets can be now be seen as the “new” drug dealer. Every year, prescription painkillers cause more than 16,000 deaths and 475,000 emergency room visits.

To take part, please enter through the Putnam Hospital Center Cancer Pavilion entrance. Signage will be posted leading to the disposal area. Individuals can dispose of prescription medication, over the counter medication, and pet medication. Syringes will not be accepted. Please keep all medications in their original packaging and remove personal patient information.

For additional information, contact: Victoria DiLonardo of the Putnam County Health Department at 845-808-1390 ext. 43125 or Bruce Kelly of the Putnam CTC Coalition at 845-225-4646.

For those people who cannot make the event, there are MedReturn boxes in the following locations: Carmel Police Department, Kent Police Department, Putnam County Sheriff’s Office in Carmel, Philipstown Town Hall, Putnam Valley Town Hall, Patterson Town Hall and the Kern Building in Brewster. The boxes in the police departments are open 24/7. In Philipstown and the Kern Bldg., the box is open Monday - Friday 8:30am to 4pm, in Putnam Valley, the box is open Monday-Friday 8am to 4pm and in Patterson, the box is open 9am to 4pm. Those boxes can take all unused or expired prescription medications, OTC medicines, prescription ointments, pet medications & vitamins. They will not accept any needles, hydrogen peroxide, aerosol cans, lotions, liquids or IV bags.