FOND DU LAC, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Fond du Lac County’s fall Drug Take Back Day resulted in nearly 2,000 pounds of unused drugs and medications being collected and disposed of.
When the 1,953 pounds that were collected in the fall are paired with the 1,953 pounds that were collected earlier in the spring, it tallies nearly two tons overall that was collected this year in the county, according to officials.
There are 12 permanent drug drop boxes in Fond du Lac County and they had the state’s first permanent location.
“A third consecutive year of removing this level of no longer used medications removed from homes is amazing,” Sandy Foote, vice chair of DFC and chair of the Prevention Pillar, told Fox 11 News. “By removing these drugs from homes we prevent abuse and misuse in our community. In addition, these medications will not adversely affect the environment because they are being disposed of properly.”
It was the most successful year of the Drug Take Back Day program in Wisconsin’s history after the 66,100 pounds of drugs collected in the fall were combined with numbers from earlier in the spring.
Thousands of NARCAN doses, which is an opioid antidote, were donated by the state Department of Justice to more than 220 Wisconsin law enforcement agencies.
The state has collected and disposed of nearly 470,000 pounds of unused and unwanted medications since 2015.
