Three pill take-back events

The Oconee County Sheriff’s Office will be hosting two separate Pill Take Back Days at three different locations later this month.

The first Pill Take Back Day for Keowee Key residents will be held on Monday, April 25th, from 1pm until 4pm.  The Sheriff’s Office will also hold a Pill Take Back Day on Saturday, April 30th, from 10am until 2pm, as part of the National Prescription Drug Take Back Day.  On that day, drop off locations will be located at the Law Enforcement Center, at 300 South Church Street in Walhalla and the Sheriff’s Office substation in Seneca, which is located behind the Emergency Room of Prisma Health – Oconee Memorial Hospital.

The Sheriff’s Office will be accepting old or no longer needed prescription medication, in pill or liquid form, plus over the counter medication and vitamins so those medications can be disposed of properly. The proper collection and disposal of this medication will prevent damage to the environment from being disposed in the wrong place and also prevent the medications from reaching the hands of children or other individuals in an effort to protect them from harm.

The Sheriff’s Office would also like to remind our citizens that Drug Collection Units are located inside the main lobby of the Law Enforcement Center at 300 South Church Street in Walhalla as well as the Oconee County Pine Street complex at 415 S. Pine Street in Walhalla.  The collection unit at the Pine Street Complex is located near the Tax Office.  Citizens can bring by their unused prescriptions and over the counter medications and empty the contents into these Units during normal business hours Monday – Friday.

The Sheriff’s Office is asking those who bring medications in pill form to the Pill Take Back Day or to the Drug Collection Unit to make sure to bring those medications in their marked prescription bottles and then open up those bottles and empty their contents into containers that the Sheriff’s Office will have set up during the Pill Take Back Day or directly into the Drug Collection Unit.  The citizens can then take those bottles with them to be recycled, which will help to keep the Sheriff’s Office incinerator in good working order.

In 2021, the Sheriff’s Office collected 303 pounds of prescription pills last year, including medication that was collected in the drop boxes.  The Sheriff’s Office also held five pill take back days last year.