Kenosha County will offer collection events at four locations for National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on Saturday, April 27, County Executive Samantha Kerkman announced today.
The events will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at these sites:
- The Kenosha County Center at highways 45 and 50 in Bristol (enter off Highway 50 on the southeast side of the building)
- Pleasant Prairie Police Department, 8600 Green Bay Road.
- ELCA Outreach Center, 6218 26th Ave.
- Kenosha Fire Station 6, 2615 14th Place.
The goal of these events is to provide safe, convenient, and responsible means of disposal of prescription medications while educating the public about the potential for abuse of these medications, Kerkman said.
Kenosha County Behavioral Health staff will be at all locations, providing information about other resources and services available in the community.
In addition to a convenient place to safely dispose of unneeded medications, the events will offer people the opportunity to receive training and free supplies of the overdose-reversing medication Narcan, as well as Fentanyl and Xylazine test strips.
Narcan training teaches people to recognize symptoms of an opioid overdose and how to administer the opioid overdose reversal drug. More information about the Narcan distribution program in Kenosha County is available at https://NarcanTrainedKenosha.com.
“Disposing of unneeded medications makes your home a safer place, and getting trained on Narcan gives you the ability to save lives,” Kerkman said. “At one of our Drug Take Back Day events last year, someone did just that — later that day, he used the Narcan he had received that morning to reverse an overdose that he came upon at a public event.”
Items acceptable for collection at the local events include prescription (controlled and noncontrolled) and over-the-counter medications, ointments, patches, inhalers, non-aerosol spray dispensers, creams, vials, and pet medications.
Unacceptable items include illegal drugs, needles/sharps, acids, aerosol cans, biohazardous materials (anything containing a bodily fluid or blood), personal care products, (shampoo, soaps, lotions, sunscreens), household hazardous waste (paint, pesticides, oil, gas), and mercury thermometers.
The Kenosha County Sheriff, Kenosha Police and Pleasant Prairie Police departments; the Kenosha Fire Department; the ELCA Outreach Center; and the Kenosha County Division of Aging, Disability and Behavioral Health Services are collaborating in the hosting of these events.
“As first responders who find ourselves all too often at the scenes of overdoses, the Kenosha Fire Department is pleased to participate in this communitywide effort to promote safety and prevention, said Kenosha Fire Chief Daniel Tilton. “I encourage the public to take this opportunity to dispose of their unneeded medications and to get trained on Narcan.”
View the April 27 event flyer