After having to cancel the April Drug Take Back Day due to the severity of the pandemic, 44 police departments/agencies across Montgomery County are ready to collect all unwanted, unneeded and expired medications as part of Drug Take Back Day, organized by the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office and the Police Chiefs Association of Montgomery County. The event runs 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020, and all locations are staffed by police officers.

Take Back Day in Montgomery County—which coincides with the DEA’s nationwide Take Back Day—is a chance for residents to clean out their medicine cabinets of unwanted, unused and expired prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) medications and dispose of them easily in a safe, environmentally friendly way. Ridding medicine cabinets of these medications is an important step for the safety of all households.

“Through this pandemic, the overdoses and overdose deaths have continued. Clearing out medicine cabinets and bathroom cupboards of unwanted and expired medicines is an essential step to keeping your home safe,” said District Attorney Kevin Steele. “Mask up, drive up and drop off those medicines safely, then township police officers, state troopers and the Montgomery County Detective Bureau will make sure that they are disposed of in an environmentally safe way.”

Accepted during Drug Take Back Day (and throughout the year at permanent MedReturn boxes) are: prescription and over-the-counter tablets and capsules, inhalers, creams, ointments, nasal sprays, pet medicines and vaping products. Not accepted are needles and intravenous/injectable solutions.

The participating sites for this upcoming Take Back Day are:

• Abington Township Police Department, 1166 Old York Rd., Abington, PA 19001
• Ambler Township Police Department, 131 Rosemary Ave., Ambler, PA 19002
• Bridgeport Borough Police Department, 65 W. 4th St., Bridgeport, PA 19405
• Bryn Athyn Police Department, 2825 Buck Road, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009
• Cheltenham Township Police Department, 8230 Old York Rd., Elkins Park, PA 19027
• Collegeville Police Department at the Municipal Building, 491 E. Main St., Collegeville, PA 19426
• Douglass Township Police Department, 1320 East Philadelphia Ave., Gilbertsville, PA 19525
• East Norriton Township Police Department, 2501 Stanbridge St., East Norriton, PA 19401
• Franconia Township Police at Franconia Elementary School, 366 Harleysville Pike, Souderton, PA 18964
• Hatboro Police Department, 120 E. Montgomery Ave., Hatboro, PA 19040
• Hatfield Township Police Department at the Administration Building, 1950 School Rd., Hatfield, PA 19440
• Lansdale Police Department, 35 Vine St., Lansdale, PA 19446
• Limerick Township Police Department, 646 W. Ridge Pike, Limerick, PA 19468
• Lower Gwynedd Township Police Department, 1130 N. Bethlehem Pike, Spring House, PA 19477
• Lower Merion Police Department, 71 E. Lancaster Ave., Ardmore, PA 19003
• Lower Moreland Township Police Department, 640 Red Lion Rd., Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006
• Lower Pottsgrove Township Police at Sanatoga Fire Company, 2222 E. High St., Pottstown, PA 19464
• Lower Providence Township Police Department, 100 Parklane Dr., Eagleville, PA 19403
• Marlborough Township Police Department, 6040 Upper Ridge Rd., Green Lane, PA 18054
• Montgomery Township Police Department at Giant Food Store, 1201 Knapp Road, North Wales, PA 19454
• Narbeth Borough Police Department, 100 Conway Ave., Narberth, PA 19072
• Norristown Municipal Police Department, 235 E. Airy St., Norristown, PA 19401
• North Wales Borough Police at Borough Hall, 300 School St., North Wales, PA 19454
• Pennsylvania State Police-Belmont, 2201 Belmont Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19131
• Pennsylvania State Police-Skippack, 2047C Bridge Road (Rte. 113), Schwenksville, PA 19473
• Plymouth Township Police Department, 700 Belvoir Rd., Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462
• Pottstown Police Department, 100 E. High St., Pottstown, PA 19464
• Rockledge Borough Police Department, One Park Ave., Rockledge, PA 19046
• Royersford Borough Police Department, 300 Main St., Royersford, PA 19468
• Souderton Police Department, 31 W. Summit St., Souderton, PA 18964
• Springfield Township Police Department, 1510 Paper Mill Rd., Wyndmoor, PA 19038
• Towamencin Township Police Department, 1090 Troxel Rd., Lansdale, PA 19446
• Upper Dublin Township Police Department, 801 Loch Alsh Ave., Fort Washington, PA 19034
• Upper Gwynedd Township Police Department, 1 Parkside Place, West Point, PA 19486
• Upper Merion Township Police Department, 175 W. Valley Forge Rd., King of Prussia, PA 19406
• Upper Moreland Township Police Department, 117 Park Ave., and at the Giant Food Store, 314 N. York Rd., both in Willow Grove, PA 19090
• Upper Perk Police Department, 88 W. 6th St., Pennsburg, PA 18073
• Upper Pottsgrove Township Police Department, 1420 Heather Place, Pottstown, PA 19464
• Upper Providence Township Police Department, 1286 Black Rock Road, Oaks, PA 19456
• West Conshohocken Police Department at the West Conshohocken Borough Hall, 112 Ford St., West Conshohocken, PA 19428
• West Norriton Township Police Department, 1630 W. Marshall St., Norristown, PA 19403
• West Pottsgrove Township Police Department, 980 Grosstown Rd., Stowe, PA 19464
• Whitemarsh Township Police Department, 616 E. Germantown Pike, Lafayette Hills, PA 19444
• Whitpain Township Police Department, 960 Wentz Rd., Blue Bell, PA 19422

The last collection day in October 2019 yielded 8,272 pounds of prescriptions and OTC medications, with nearly 16,000 pounds collected during all of 2019. Since the Take Back program began in 2010, more than 75,000 pounds of medicines have been collected and safely disposed of.

If someone can’t make it to Drug Take Back Day on Oct. 24, unwanted medications can be dropped off and disposed of throughout the year at more than 50 permanent prescription drug disposal boxes, most of which are located at police departments. Some of these boxes were sponsored by the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association and some by Pennsylvania American Water in an effort to help keep our water supply safe.