On Saturday, April 29 the Vicksburg Police Department and Warren County Sheriff’s Office participated in National Drug Take Back Day. 

The police department’s collection point at Walgreens on Halls Ferry Road collected 74 pounds of unwanted or expired drugs. The sheriff’s department received 40 pounds of medication during their collection at the Vicksburg Outlet Mall. 

“We are glad that the Vicksburg Police Department played a major role in removing unused, unwanted and expired medication that could be harmful to young children and teens,” Vicksburg Police Chief Walter Armstrong said.

The residents took advantage of the special program on Saturday to get rid of expired and unwanted drugs and prescription narcotics. The National Drug Take Back is held twice a year in April and October.

The Warren County Sheriff’s Office has participated in the program, along with the Drug Enforcement Administration, since its creation with the goal of allowing people to dispose of their unwanted medication in a clean and environmentally safe way.

“In many cases, a juvenile person’s first exposure with diverting legal medication to illegal use come from a relative’s medicine cabinet,” Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said. “There is no reason to have prescription medication laying around the house that is not actively being used.”

The drugs collected were picked up by DEA for proper disposal.