OC Sheriff’s Office hosting Pill Take Back Day on Saturday

The Oconee County Sheriff’s Office reminds everyone that they will be hosting a Pill Take Back Day on Saturday, Oct. 22 from 10am until 2pm at the Sheriff’s Office Substation which is located near the Emergency Room at Oconee Memorial Hospital. The Oconee County Sheriff’s Office will be accepting old or no longer needed prescription medication, in pill or liquid form, plus over the counter medication and vitamins so those medications can be disposed of properly. “The Pill Take Back Days will make it possible for the Sheriff’s Office not only to safely collect but safely dispose of these medications,” says Lt. Jeremy Chapman of the Special Operations Division of the Sheriff’s Office. “This will prevent these medications from damaging the environment from being disposed of in the wrong place and also prevent these medications from getting into the hands of children or other individuals to protect them from harm.” The Sheriff’s Office reminds citizens that a Drug Collection Unit is located inside the main lobby of the Law Enforcement Center at 300 South Church Street in Walhalla. This unit, which was awarded to the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office based on a grant from CVS Pharmacy, was placed in the Law Enforcement Center earlier this summer. Citizens can bring by their unused prescription and over the counter medications and empty the contents into the Unit during normal business hours, 8:30am until 4:30pm, Monday-Friday. A second Medication Disposal Unit was placed this week outside of the Emergency Room of Oconee Memorial Hospital and is now available for use. The Oconee County Sheriff’s Office asks those who bring medication in pill form to either the Pill Take Back Day or to the Drug Collection Unit to make sure to bring those medications in their marked prescription bottles and then to open up those bottles and empty their contents into containers that the Sheriff’s Office will have set up during the Pill Take Back Day or directly into the Drug Collection Unit and then take those bottles with them to be recycled. This will help to keep the Sheriff’s Office incinerator in good working order. So far in 2016, the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office has collected approximately 321.4 pounds of medication during earlier Pill Take Back Days this year and approximately 212 pounds of medication as a result of the Drug Collection Unit. In 2015, the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office collected approximately 910 pounds of pills and liquid prescription medication.