State Representative Tom Weber (R-Lake Villa) hosted a successful prescription medication drop-off event this week, and collected nearly 100 pounds of expired of unused pharmaceuticals that constituents had sitting in their homes.
Rep. Weber partnered with the McHenry County Sherriff’s Department for the three-hour event, which was held at the McHenry County Government Center in Woodstock. “My deepest thanks go out to Sherriff Bill Prim, Officers Creighton and Campos-Cruz, and Sherriff’s Department volunteers Tip and Beth for helping out with the event,” said Weber. “We had a steady stream of cars and everyone appreciated the opportunity to safely dispose of their unused or expired drugs.”
In a recent national survey on drug use and health, it was discovered that 9.9 million Americans misused controlled prescription drugs in 2019 and that the majority of the abused prescriptions were obtained from family or friends, and often from home medicine cabinets. “Events like these take potentially deadly pharmaceuticals out of the hands of those who would intentionally or unintentionally abuse them,” Weber said. “We filled three large boxes, and the items collected will be safely incinerated, which also removes any possibility that they could find their way into the water supply via landfills or sewers.”
