Prescription Drugs Target of 'Operation Spring Cleaning'

Deaths from prescription drug overdoses are on the rise among teenagers in America. One way to make sure prescription medications are “out of the reach of children” is to turn them in as part of the annual prescription drug take-back program, “Operation Spring Cleaning.”

Unused, expired or unwanted medications – prescription or over-the- counter – can be dropped off, no questions asked, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday, April 28, at eight locations in Washington and Benton Counties. The medications can be liquid or capsule, in their original container or in zip-lock plastic bags.

In Fayetteville Project Right Choice and the Fayetteville Police Department are sponsoring a drop-off site at the World Gym parking lot, 2035 N. College Ave.

Prescription medications can also be left at the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in Fayetteville; the Springdale, Little Flock, and Gentry Police Departments; the Benton County Sheriff’s Office; the Siloam Springs Police booth at the Dogwood Festival; and the Mercy Clinic at 3101 SE 14^th St. in Bentonville, which is sponsored by the Benton County Sheriff’s Office.

Medications should never be flushed down the toilet, so the take-back program has the added plus of keeping the watershed clean by disposing of the prescription drugs in an environmentally safe manner.