BERRIEN COUNTY — During a time when many people will be welcoming friends and family into their homes for holiday gatherings, Berrien County residents are reminded to sort through their medicine cabinets and properly dispose of old or unwanted medications.
More than 70 percent of young people abusing prescription pain relievers get them through friends or family, a statistic that includes raiding the family medicine cabinet, according to the Berrien County Health Department.
Berrien County residents are encouraged to dispose of their unused, expired and unwanted medications properly by using the MedReturn drug collection drop off locations around Berrien County. In addition to MedReturn drug collection drop off boxes within Lakeland Health Pharmacies in St. Joseph and Niles, Walgreens Pharmacy has also installed safe medication disposal kiosks at their St. Joseph and Niles locations. There are also safe and secure drug collection drop off boxes in Niles, Coloma, Harbert, Buchanan, Watervliet, Berrien Springs and New Buffalo.
“This makes properly disposing of excess and expired drugs everyone’s responsibility as well as a matter of public and environmental safety,” said Kerri Teachout, the Berrien County Health Department substance abuse prevention supervisor.
Within the past year, more than 2,500 pounds of unwanted and expired medications were collected from various drop off locations in Berrien County.
“It is one of the best things our community can do to reduce the supply of drugs that can potentially harm teens and adults,” Teachout said.
The Berrien County Health Department is committed to providing a safe, secure and environmentally friendly way to help law enforcement agencies and Berrien County communities collect unwanted or expired household medication, including prescriptions, over-the-counter drugs and unused pharmaceuticals.
Collection sites are open during normal business hours. Medications may be dropped off with no questions asked. Medications may be placed in a sealable plastic bag or may be disposed of in their original containers.
A full list of the drug collection locations is available at bchdmi.org.