Algood Drug Take Back Initiative Saturday

The Algood Police Department is hosting a Drug Take Back Initiative Saturday, no questions asked.

Officer Elena Neff said people will most commonly flush away their unused prescription drugs or just leave them at home.

“At that point these drugs find their way into the wrong hands, so whether by misuse, abuse, or theft,” Neff said. “If they flush them at home, then they have the potential to find their way into local watering sources. We as law enforcement and the DEA definitely wanted to find a safer way, environmentally and socially, to dispose of these drugs.”

Neff said the Tennessee Dangerous Drug Task Force collected over 70,000 pounds of prescription drugs last year from participating agencies. Any prescription drug will be accepted but liquids, syringes, and vape devices with a permanent battery will not.

“So essentially this takes a lot of drugs that could be finding their way onto the street, and just takes them in and disposes of them the way that they need to be disposed of,” Neff said.

A Drug Take Back Day was scheduled in April, but was cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns. Neff said Walmart contacted the Algood Police Department to get involved with Take Back Day.

“This year we’ve got everything lined up and we’re working very closely with Walmart,” Neff said. “Especially trying to get drive-thru traffic flow to work well with them. I’m really excited about our turnout this year, and I’m really hoping that we’ll get some higher numbers than we did last year.”

The Take Back Day is scheduled at the Algood Walmart from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. If an individual has medication in need of disposal but they are unable to attend the drug initiative, Neff recommends contacting local law enforcement.