Attorney general encourages participation in National Prescription Drug Take Back Day

Note: This is from the Office of the Montana Attorney General

HELENA — Saturday, Oct. 26, from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm, Montanans are invited to bring their unwanted prescription medications for no-questions-asked disposal at one of 26 participating collections sites across the state.

National Prescription Drug Take Back Day in Montana is sponsored by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the Montana Department of Justice, and local and tribal law enforcement agencies.

“Take Back Day offers a safe and easy way for each of us to properly dispose of outdated or unneeded medications and help prevent prescription drug abuse and theft,” Fox, who is running for governor of Montana, said. “I appreciate the continued support of our many law enforcement partners in making it convenient for Montanans to drop off unwanted prescription drugs that might otherwise be diverted or abused.”

Along with Fort Belknap, which will host Drug Take Back at Fort Belknap law enforcement, other towns hosting Take Back events include Billings, Bozeman, Browning, Butte, Columbus, Crow Agency, Cut Bank, Gardiner, Harlowton, Helena, Lame Deer, Laurel, Lewistown, Libby, Lincoln, Livingston, Polson, Poplar, Ronan, West Yellowstone and Whitefish.  

To view the details of each event, visit https://takebackday.dea.gov . 

That site will be continuously updated with new participating locations up until the day of the event.

The following items cannot be accepted: Illegal drugs, chemotherapy drugs, needles, sharps, mercury — thermometers — oxygen containers, pressurized canisters and radioactive substances. 

Montanans who can’t make it to a Take Back Day event, or who aren’t near one of the hosting towns, can dispose of their unwanted medications by visiting one of many permanent drug drop box locations across the state.  

Additionally, thanks to collaboration among Google, the Montana Department of Justice, and the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, smart phone users can search for permanent box locations by typing “medication disposal near me” into Google Search or Google Maps on their device.  For smart phone users who don’t have the Google Maps app installed, they can access the locations by navigating to google.com/maps in their browser and using the same search term.

Permanent drop box locations in this area include Chester Pharmacy in Chester at 30 Main Street, Big Sandy Pharmacy in Big Sandy at 158 Johannes Ave., Rocky Boy Health Center in Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation at 6850 Upper Box Elder Road, Northern Montana Hospital at 30 West 13th St. in Havre, Gary & Leo’s Fresh Foods at the Health Mart Pharmacy in Havre at 730 First St., Bullhook Community Health Center Pharmacy at 521 Fourth St. in Havre, the Havre Police Department at 520 Fourth Ave. in Havre, and Chinook Pharmacy at at 300 Indiana St. in Chinook.

National Prescription Drug Take Back Day addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Nationwide, a total of 937,443 pounds, or 468 tons, were brought to 6,258 collection sites in April. Over 40,000 pounds of prescription drugs and over-the-counter medications have been collected at Montana National Take Back Day events since 2010. 

As part of Attorney General Fox’s Aid Montana Initiative, three new drug incinerators were installed in Butte, Great Falls and Billings last year.  The incinerators are used to safely destroy prescription drugs turned into local law enforcement take back boxes, and are invaluable in keeping unwanted medications out of Montana’s communities and water supplies.