PICKENS COUNTY – An upcoming event gives Pickens County residents an opportunity to get rid of unwanted, unneeded and expired prescription pills – and possibly leave the drop off sites with a little extra in their wallets.

The Drug Enforcement Administration sponsors two National Pill Take Back Days every year, in April and October.

The spring 2022 National Pill Take Back Day will be held 10am – 2pm Saturday, April 30.

In Pickens County, pills can be dropped off at AnMed Health Cannon Hospital (123 W.G. Acker Drive, Pickens), Prisma Health Baptist Easley (200 Fleetwood Drive, Easley) and the Clemson Free Clinic (1200 Clemson Boulevard, Clemson).

Residents dropping off medications during Pill Take Back Day may be randomly selected to win a Walmart gift card. There will be 20 random winners at each of the three drop off sites.

“We highly encourage all citizens to take advantage of this opportunity to not only clean out their medicine cabinets, but do it in a way where we can ensure that medications will be properly disposed of – and who knows, you might be one of the lucky ones to get a Walmart gift card!” said Jessica Gibson, Director of Prevention Services at Behavioral Health Services of Pickens County.

Disposing of expired, unwanted and unneeded pills keeps them out of the wrong hands. It also keeps them out of the water supply.

Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. According to the Centers for Disease Control, opioid overdose deaths have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the CDC, the U.S. has seen an increase in overdose deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic, with 83,544 Americans overdosing during the 12-month period ending July 1, 2020, the most ever recorded in a 12-month period. The increase in drug overdose deaths appeared to begin prior to the COVID-19 health emergency, but accelerated significantly during the pandemic’s first months.

During Take Back Day on April 30, the DEA and local law enforcement partners will collect tablets, capsules, patches and solid forms of medication.

Vaping devices and cartridges will also be accepted, so long as the lithium batteries are removed.

Liquids including intravenous solutions and syringes, as well as illegal drugs, will not be accepted.

Last year, nearly 5,000 collection sites collected 372 tons of unwanted, unneeded or expired prescription medications, according to the DEA.

Locally, more than 4850 pounds of medications have been collected at Pickens County Take Back Day events since 2013, according to the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office.

In addition to National Pill Take Back Days, there are several locations in Pickens County that have permanent prescription drug drop boxes. They are the City of Clemson Police Department (1198 Tiger Blvd, Clemson), the Liberty Police Department (147b Kay Holcombe Road, Liberty), the Easley Police Department (220 NW Main Street, Easley) and AnMed Health Cannon (123 WG Acker Drive, Pickens).