Joseph Dixon, supervisory special agent for the U.S. Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration, speaks with local media about Drug Take Back Day at the Michigan State Police Negaunee Post on Wednesday. Drug Take Back Day, a biannual initiative that allows the public the opportunity to turn in unused prescription drugs, is set for this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (Journal photo by Ryan Spitza)

NEGAUNEE — Are you ever left wondering what to do with unused prescription drugs?

Instead of leaving them to sit in a medicine cabinet for the next several years, the U.S. Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration has a way for area residents to properly dispose of any unused, unwanted pills.

The 20th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is being held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. A biannual event that typically occurs each April and October, it allows the public to properly dispose of any solid-form prescription drugs that are no longer used. The DEA partners with law enforcement agencies across the country to provide drop-off sites for pills, capsules and tablets.

Joseph Dixon, supervisory special agent with the DEA, was at the Michigan State Police Negaunee Post on Wednesday to discuss the event and its importance.

“This year marks the 20th time that the DEA will be doing the take back initiative, along with our federal, state and local counterparts,” he said. “This has been a very successful initiative over the years. It’s been successful because we’ve had the opportunity to have those conversations with our families and friends about the importance of going inside of those prescription cabinets and taking those expiring or unused medications and disposing of them in a safe manner. That’s what this program and initiative focuses on.

“Along with our counterparts here, the Michigan State Police, our county counterparts and our city counterparts, there are going to be multiple locations throughout the (Upper Peninsula) where you and your family members can bring those prescription medications (and) dispose of them in a safe manner. And we want you guys to all be a part of the solution. We say that because we know that prescription medications, a lot of times, can lead to other catastrophic doors that we don’t want to have open, meaning that if we have family or friends who take part in using those in a manner which is not safe, it could lead to their life being lost.”

The DEA cites the 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which reports that 9.7 million people misused prescription pain relievers that year. Around 4.9 million people misused prescription stimulants, while 5.9 million people misused prescription tranquilizers or sedatives.

The same survey found that in a majority of these cases, the misused prescription drugs were obtained from home medicine cabinets of a friend or family member, which is why the DEA sees the take back event as a critical initiative.

“We take this very seriously,” Dixon said. “The DEA and our counterparts look to do this continuously for the years to come, and we thank all of you in the U.P. for being a part of this and for being a part of the solution.”

The last take back event, which was held in October, had 4,153 law enforcement agencies participate nationwide, with 985,392 pounds of prescription drugs dropped off at 4,587 collection sites.

Michigan ranked 13th of 48 participating states in weight of substances collected during the October event, collecting 33,343 pounds of prescription drugs. The state reported 207 collection sites were operated by 216 participating law enforcement agencies.

While it’s only a single-day event, several agencies have drop-off programs in place year-round, such as the Marquette Police Department.

“We are participating in the drug take back this Saturday as well, but in addition to that, we are a department that always has the ability to take in those type of drugs at any time,” MPD Detective Lt. Chris Aldrich said. “We do have a receptacle at our department, so at any time, people can stop down and dispose of their unused or unwanted medication, not just on the drug take back specific day, but any time throughout the year.

“It’s a great benefit to the community, and it’s used quite a bit and quite often on an ongoing basis.”

Aldrich said city buildings remain closed to the public due to the pandemic, therefore, they ask residents to call the department at 906-228-0400 when they arrive, and an officer will come out to greet them and collect their prescription drugs.

The MSP Negaunee Post also has a year-round receptacle, but Lt. Mark Giannunzio encourages the public to partake in Saturday’s event.

“Every state police post in the U.P. will be accepting these prescription medications on Saturday,” Giannunzio said. “Just come into the lobby of the post. There will be a sergeant there working and you can drop off the drugs to them.

“Go into your medicine cabinet, take a look at what you’re not using, put them in a bag, get them ready for Saturday, come in, drop them off, it’s hassle-free and it’s a great thing to keep those drugs from getting somewhere else. I highly encourage everybody to do that.”

Rich Rossway, Upper Peninsula district liaison for the office of Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Watersmeet, was also present on Wednesday to praise the DEA’s efforts.

“The congressman is very appreciative of the efforts of the DEA, the state police and all of our law enforcement agencies,” he said. “Certainly our focus is in helping those agencies be provided with the resources that they need to do their job.

“There’s been a lot of bills that the congressman has worked on, a recent one that had passed is called the Addiction Recovery for Rural Communities Act, and that basically mandates the (U.S. Department of Agriculture) to help fund local communities in their fight to help people with disorders for substance use. (And) to be able to help them get on the right path in addition to finding that root cause of that addiction, too.

“We’re very supportive of the DEA and we really think the take back program is a great program.”

In total, the previous 19 National Prescription Drug Take Back Days have collected 13,684,848 pounds, or 6,842.4 tons of unused, unwanted prescription drugs.

Dixon said he’ll never truly know if the program makes a difference in preventing people from misusing prescription drugs, but raising awareness is always important.

“You’ll never know that, but we can always say in an effort to educate people, it’s always great to take this time,” he said. “I kind of look at it as the old adage of changing batteries in a smoke detector. We all know we should do that. We all have that conversation with family members.

“Take back (day) gives us time to have that same conversation with our family and friends and saying ‘You know what, these are unused, these are expired, we should safely dispose of them.’ With that being said, I can’t tell you that number, but I can say that this is a great time for us to educate our families and friends on the importance of it, and that’s what the DEA and our state and local partners are trying to do.”

Marquette County law enforcement agencies participating as drop-off sites on Saturday include the Marquette Police Department, the Chocolay Township Police Department, the Negaunee City Police Department, the Michigan State Police Negaunee Post, the Forsyth Township Police Department and the Ishpeming City Police Department.

The drugs can also be dropped off at all seven state police posts across the U.P.

Only solid-form prescription drugs will be accepted during the event.

For more information and a full list of U.P. collection sites, visit https://takebackday.dea.gov.

Ryan Spitza can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 248. His email address is rspitza@miningjournal.net.