CARTERET COUNTY, NC (November 2, 2023) – The fall Operation Medicine Drop resulted in more than 210,000 dosage units of prescription drugs weighing a combined total of 280 pounds.
Residents of Carteret County were able to bring unused or expired prescription drugs to six designated county law enforcement locations: Food Lion grocery stores in Beaufort, Morehead City, Atlantic Beach, Newport, and Emerald Isle and the Walmart Supercenter in Morehead City.
“Year after year, Operation Medicine Drop in Carteret County has resulted in hundreds of pounds of expired and unused medications,” said Carteret County Sheriff Asa Buck. “The community relies on this service and we continue to see tremendous amounts of unused medication removed from circulation. Our residents recognize the dangers these medications present when misused and we thank them for being active participants in combating prescription drug misuse.”
The Operation Medicine Drop initiative is a partnership of the N.C. Department of Insurance’s Safe Kids North Carolina program and other agencies held in conjunction with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, held twice a year in April and October.
The goal of Operation Medicine Drop is to encourage the public to anonymously turn in unused, unwanted, or expired prescription medication that will be weighed and disposed of properly by law enforcement officials.
In 2023, the two Operation Medicine Drop collections in Carteret County yielded a total of 574 pounds of unused prescription drugs. This brings the total amount of unused prescription drugs collected by Carteret County law enforcement since the fall of 2008 to 5,909 pounds (2.95 tons).
Residents that were unable to visit any of the drop-off sites can go to one of the permanent locations at any time, which are listed on the sheriff’s office website.
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