Today, Roper Saint Francis Healthcare teamed up with the Charleston Police Department as hosts to a Drug Take Back Day at the Lowcountry Senior Center in James Island.

People from across the Lowcountry dropped off their unused prescriptions to be safely disposed of.

Many people are simply unaware that their unused or expired prescription pills are at risk of being stolen & abused, but Lieutenant Shylah Murray, Charleston Police Department, says that it is very common for law enforcement to find pills on a person who was not prescribed them.  

“It happens more than you would think. You know they take it from their parents, their mother or father, their grandparents, anyone that might have had a hip surgery– their grandson or granddaughter might have taken it from them. So, it happens a lot more than anyone thinks.”

  In 2017, Charleston County led the state of South Carolina in overdose deaths. The Charleston Police Department says overdose numbers continue to remain high & expired prescription pills have contributed heavily to that number.

This is exactly what the Charleston Police Department & Roper Saint Francis Healthcare say that they are trying to prevent by hosting the Drug Take Back Day. Julie Lawrence, a Clinical Pharmacist at Roper St. Francis Healthcare says that people have dropped off drugs that have long been expired.

“We have had people drop off, today, prescriptions from 5 or more years ago. They’ve been sitting in the cabinets and unfortunately some of our younger people and adults, as well, realized the potential for a high from these drugs, and so, they will go and swipe a couple of pills out of that bottle and a lot of times it goes unrecognized.”

By the end of the day, Roper Saint Francis Healthcare & The Charleston Police Department collected over 200 pounds of prescription drugs.

Find a prescription drug drop-off location near you: http://justplainkillers.com/