Village of Westmont
Date Issued: September 28, 2020
On Saturday, October 24, the Westmont Police Department will participate in the National DEA-sponsored Drug Take Back Day. The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Westmont Police Department at 500 N. Cass Avenue in Westmont. Drug take back programs focus on collecting unwanted, unused, and expired prescription drugs.
ACCEPTED
Pills, powders, and patches will be accepted. Needles and/or sharps are also accepted at the Westmont Police Department. All needles must be secured in a Sharps container. Members of the Westmont Police Department will be on-site to receive all medications delivered and will ensure safe disposal of these drugs.
NOT ACCEPTED
The program will NOT accept radioactive medicines, liquids, creams, inhalers, or EpiPens. To learn about how to safely dispose of medicines not accepted at the event, the DuPage County Health Department has helpful resources available at hopedupage.org.
“This is a very popular program that provides citizens an opportunity to safely dispose of unused and unwanted drugs in an environmentally-safe manner that helps prevent drugs from entering the fresh water supply,” said Westmont Deputy Police Chief Stephen Thompson.
The annual Drug Take Back Day also helps with reducing the possibility of substance abuse. 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.
For more information regarding this program, visit the DEA website at take back day.dea.gov. For specific information regarding Westmont’s participation in this program, contact Deputy Police Chief Stephen Thompson at sthompson@westmont.il.gov or 630-981-6371.
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