More than a ton of unwanted medications collected in Amherst during National Prescription Drug Take Back Day
AMHERST, Mass. (WWLP) – Community members in Amherst disposed of over a ton of unused medications during National Prescription Drug Take Back Day last month.
Residents cleaned out their medicine cabinets and dropped off any old medications during the Drug Take Back Day event held on April 26th at Wildwood Elementary School. The national event is meant to safely dispose of unwanted or expired medications and make sure they never end up in the wrong hands.
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During the event, Amherst Police Officer Damon and Captain Young worked along with John Demko and Marcy Brougham from the Hampshire County Sheriff's department and collected a total of 2,175 pounds of drugs to be destroyed.
According to the DEA, the majority of teenagers abusing prescription drugs get them from family, friends, or a medicine cabinet at home. The most important part of these events is to remind the public that there is a safe way of disposal.
If you were unable to drop off your unused or expired drugs on Saturday, there are year-round drop-off locations across western Massachusetts.
WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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