The University of Toledo Medical Center is among the drug drop-off locations participating in Drug Take Back Day on Saturday, April 26.

Drug Take Back Day is part of a national initiative of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and is administered locally by the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department.

The Health Department, located at 635 North Erie St. in downtown Toledo, will be accepting liquid medications, inhalers, ointments, lotions, narcotics, over-the-counter medications, medication samples and vitamins from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday. It also will accept old mercury thermometers to be disposed of in environmentally friendly ways.

UTMC is working with the UT Police Department to participate in Drug Take Back Day also collecting medications from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Emergency Department Lobby.

The event at the local health department was planned by its intern Andrew Schneider, a second-year PharmD student at UT.

“By collecting the meds, we’re preventing children from accidental overdoses, and we’re taking dangerous drugs off the street,” Schneider said. “Improperly disposing of medications and mercury thermometers can contaminate water and land, so it’s important that people are aware that there is a proper way to dispose of them.”

The Toledo-Lucas County Health Department can’t take needles, syringes or lancets, according to Schneider, but those items can be put in a hard container labeled “sharps” and disposed of in regular trash. The Health Department also cannot take IV bags, hydrogen peroxide, aerosol cans or personal care products.

Each year the event is run by a second-year PharmD intern with guidance from the third-year intern who planned it the year before.

“I love working at the health department,” Schneider said. “It’s been a great way to take what I’ve learned in school and apply it.”

Tags: The University of Toledo Medical Center (UTMC)