By Dylan Spilko

Residents of the College Park area took advantage of an opportunity to return unused and expired prescription drugs during National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. The Drug Enforcement Agency and University of Maryland Police Department hosted the Oct. 26 event. 

Citizens were given a chance to dump their unwanted prescription drugs of all kinds with no questions asked from authorities. 

“This is a great event that we host with the DEA because it helps with patrons to have a safe place to bring drugs in their living area,” said Lt. August Kenner. “This is a safe place for them to come.” 

The Take Back Day has been held 18 times over the past nine years in the College Park area. During the last event on April 27, police collected nearly 469 tons of prescription drugs, more than twice the weight of the Statue of Liberty, according to the DEA. The results from this month’s event are being calculated after the event, DEA Supervisory Special Agent Michelle Winkis said. 

When prescription drugs in the area are disposed of improperly or flushed down the toilet, it can have a negative impact on the water quality in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, Winkis said. She emphasized this point as one of the reasons for holding these events.

“We will actually go burn it in a safe place this week, so all their prescription pills, they will be destroyed within a matter of days,” Winkis said. She went on to explain that each state has their own facility where they burn prescription drugs. 

Another issue with keeping unused or expired prescription drugs in homes is that it creates a domestic danger, Kenner said. 

A resident of Beltsville, Maryland, Eric Dorcey, came to the event looking to return medicine he once received when he had the flu. 

“The doctor always gives me like a huge bottle of cough syrup,” Dorcey said. “I don’t need that much, and then it just like sits in a closet or like in the medicine cabinet for forever.” 

Dorcey also emphasized the importance of disposing unused prescription drugs correctly to avoid any negative outcomes that accompany incorrect disposal.

“Drug turn-in events like this are a big deal because it takes [prescription drugs] out of the wrong hands,” Dorcey said. 

One of the most important aspects of this event, however, was the fact that the police and the DEA agree to make the occasion a “no questions asked” type event. This means that no matter what kind of drug a participant turns in, legal or not, it will be disposed of without consequences for the person who returned it. 

“Nobody wants questions,” Winkis said. “ I think the anonymity brings people in to an event like this.” 

Since 2010, the DEA has recorded a total of nearly 12 million pounds of medications from circulation, according to Winkis. The DEA, along with its partners, plans to continue the Drug Take Back Day event for the foreseeable future. 

Editor’s note: A previous version of the story used “he” pronouns for SSA Michelle Winkis. The story has been corrected.