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ST. JOSEPH & NILES, Mich., Oct. 24, 2023 - Corewell Health™ and Berrien County Sheriff Department have teamed up once again to collect unused and unwanted prescription drugs for safe disposal on Saturday, Oct. 28, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the following locations:  

Community members are invited to stop by to dispose of expired prescriptions and other unwanted or unneeded medications. This free and anonymous public service is part of the annual National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).  

“Last year, Michigan saw far too many avoidable opioid related deaths,” said Colleen Lane, M.D., medical director of addiction medicine at Corewell Health. “So many of these deaths were related to prescription medications. By dropping off unused medications, you are playing a critical role in keeping your family and community safe.”  

Berrien County Sherrif Department will oversee the local collection sites to ensure the drugs are disposed of in an appropriate manner. The DEA advises the public not to flush medications down the toilet or throw them in the trash because doing so poses potential safety and health hazards. 

Additional collection sites are listed on the DEA website.  

During the last National Prescription Drug Take Back Day in April 2023, DEA and its law enforcement partners came together again to protect our communities from prescription misuse by safely disposing of 663,725 pounds of unneeded medications at nearly 5,000 collection sites across the country.