National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day This Saturday
Poughkeepsie, NY … Dutchess County Executive Marcus J. Molinaro encourages the public to participate in National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day this Saturday, April 24th. He also urged residents to dispose of all unwanted, unneeded or expired prescription drugs safely and anonymously at any of the 11 permanent drop-off locations at law enforcement facilities throughout Dutchess County.
This Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., representatives from the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office and the Dutchess County STOP-DWI Program will host drive-through locations for residents to drop off unused medication at the following venues:
- Home Depot parking lot
3470 North Road (Route) 9
Poughkeepsie - Walgreens parking lot
704 Freedom Plains Road
LaGrange - J.H. Ketcham Fire House
3133 Route 22
Dover Plains
County Executive Molinaro said, “As we celebrate Earth Day this week, National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day offers residents a chance to clean out their medicine cabinets and while protecting our environment and keeping our community safe by ensuring these medications don’t fall into the hands of those who might abuse them. I urge residents to utilize this opportunity to keep our community safe this Saturday, as well as our secure medication drop-off boxes throughout Dutchess County, which are available year-round.”
Medications steadily accumulate in the home, where the vast majority are improperly discarded or stored indefinitely. In addition, many Americans do not know how to properly dispose of their unused medications, often flushing them down the toilet or throwing them away, posing safety and environmental hazards.
By allowing residents to anonymously dispose of unused and unwanted prescription medications throughout the year at permanent medication disposal sites, the Dutchess County Prescription Medication Drop Box Program proactively addresses drug abuse throughout the County.
The following drop-off locations are accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week:
• Dutchess County Law Enforcement Center, 108 Parker Avenue, Poughkeepsie
• New York State Police, Troop K Headquarters, 2541 Route 44, Salt Point
• City of Beacon Police Department, 1 Municipal Plaza, Beacon
• East Fishkill Police Department, 2468 Route 52, Hopewell Junction
• Hyde Park Police Department, 3 Cardinal Road, Hyde Park
• Town of Poughkeepsie Police Department, 19 Tucker Drive, Poughkeepsie
• Wappingers Falls Police Department, 2628 South Avenue, Wappingers Falls
Additional drop-off locations are accessible during the following days/hours:
• Village of Millerton Police Department, 21 Dutchess Ave., Millerton
• Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Saturday, noon to midnight; Sunday, 4 p.m. to midnight
• Village of Red Hook Police Department, 7467 South Broadway, Red Hook
• Daily, 8 a.m. to midnight
• Village of Rhinebeck Police Department, 76 East Market Street, Rhinebeck
• Daily, 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.
• Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office Pawling Substation, 9 Memorial Avenue, Pawling
• Residents can call (845) 486-3000 to make arrangements for drop-off
In 2020, a total of 3,355 pounds of medications were collected at the 11 countywide drop-off locations, Office for the Aging senior picnics and other public collection events, and destroyed. Since the Dutchess County Prescription Medication Drop Box Program was launched in 2013, more than 19,171 pounds of unwanted or unneeded medications have been safely collected and destroyed.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day is an effort to address vital public safety and health issues and an opportunity to highlight current programs targeting the growing epidemic of drug overdoses. Over the past decade, more than 10 million pounds of expired, unused and unwanted prescription medications have been collected nationwide at National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day events.
National Prescription Take-Back Day offers collection sites for this event throughout the United States; a list of collection sites can be found at dea.gov.