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Bismarck-Burleigh Public Health and the Bismarck Police Department host a Take Back Event

Bismarck-Burleigh Public Health

Bismarck-Burleigh Public Health and the Bismarck Police Department will host a Take Back Event on Wednesday May 25th, from 8:30 to 11:30 A.M. at the Burleigh County Senior Center. The Take Back Event aims to provide a safe, convenient, and responsible way to dispose of prescription drugs. Susan Kahler is BBPH Substance Abuse Prevention Coordinator.

"At this event, you can take your unused medications and prescriptions. If you're able to, take them out of the bottle and just put them in a baggie, or just take a black sharpie marker and remove your name from the bottle. You can bring in inhalers, nebulizer solutions, liquids and creams. Pain relief such as Vicodin, Hydrocodone, Demerol, OxyContin, or fentanyl. Anti-depressants such as Valium, Zoloft, or Prozac; any pills or medications you have."

Kahler says that the event doesn’t accept syringes, medical equipment, or cancer medications. She encourages residents to ask their pharmacists where to safely dispose of these items.

"The value of this is having a place to dispose of your medications properly. We don't want you flushing it down the toilet and getting it into our water system. It's important to take it to a take back location. The other value of it is that we want to get those unused prescriptions, especially pain medications, we want to dispose of them properly so that they don't get in to the wrong hands. "