Location: Bob Wiley Detention Facility, 36712 Road 112, Visalia Visalia Substation, 2404 W. Burrel Ave., Visalia South County Detention Facility, 1960 W. Scranton Ave., Porterville

Incident Date: 10/26/19

Incident Time: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

City: Visalia, Porterville

Posted by: Media Relations

This Saturday, Oct. 26, 2019, is National Take Back Day for unwanted medications, vape pens and e-cigarettes. 

Twice a year in the fall and in the spring the Drug Enforcement Administration partners with local law enforcement agencies across the country to collect unwanted prescription pills in an effort to rid homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs. This year, the DEA has added vape pens and e-cigarettes to the list of substances that can be safely disposed of Saturday, Oct. 26.

Vape pens and e-cigarette devices will be accepted from individual consumers only after the batteries are removed from the devices. 

What: National Take Back Day

When: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 26, 2019

Where: Bob Wiley Detention Facility, 36712 Road 112, Visalia

Visalia Substation, 2404 W. Burrel Ave., Visalia

South County Detention Facility, 1960 W. Scranton Ave., Porterville

Cost: Free disposal

Info: Teresa Douglass, PIO, (559) 802-9412 or sheriffpio@co.tulare.ca.us 

(The DEA cannot accept liquids or needles or sharps, only pills or patches.)  The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

According to the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 9.9 million Americans misused controlled prescription drugs. The study shows that a majority of abused prescription drugs were obtained from family and friends, often from the home medicine cabinet.

The DEA’s Take Back Day events provide an opportunity for Americans to prevent drug addiction and overdose deaths.

Too often, unused prescription drugs end up in the wrong hands. That’s both dangerous and tragic. You can clean out your medicine cabinets and turn in – safely and anonymously – prescription drugs and, now, vape pens and e-cigarettes.

During the last National Take Back day in April 2019, almost 5,000 law enforcement agencies participated throughout the country with 6,258 collection sites. More than 900,000 pounds of medications were safely disposed of. 

This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue.  Medicines that languish in home medicine cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs.  

Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. In addition, Americans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines—flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash—pose potential safety and health hazards. 

For more information about the disposal of prescription drugs or about the Oct. 27, 2018 Take Back Day event, go to the http://www.dea.gov/index.shtml or call Teresa Douglass, Sheriff’s public information officer, at 559-802-9412.

More info about disposing of vape pens and e-cigarettes:

- If the battery cannot be removed, individual consumers can check with large electronic 

chain stores who may accept the vape pen or e?cigarette devices for proper disposal.  

- Individual consumers may also contact their local Hazardous Materials Management Facility to determine if they accept these devices, and for additional guidance regarding proper

disposal.