OROVILLE – National Take Back Day, Oct. 27, offered a chance to gather any unused medicines in nationwide, as well as the Oroville community.

The Oroville CARES Coalition, Oroville Police Department and the U.S. Department of Justice, DEA Drug Diversion Control, collaborated in attempting to gather any unused medicines in the community.

Oroville, with the use of the new Drug Drop Box located at the Oroville Police Station, which is open 24 hours per day, seven days per week, was able to collect 52.86 pounds of products, according to Marlene Barker, Executive Director of Oroville CARES.

“It is imperative that we remove as many outdated and unused prescriptions as possible in an ongoing effort to keep them out of the water supply and out of the hands of those that they are not prescribed to,” said Barker.

The previous National Take Back Day, which was April 15, 2018, garnered a total of 474.5 tons of unused or outdated medications nationwide. Some 5,842 sites worked with the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, to remove and destroy these medications.

“Thank you, Oroville, for participating in Take Back Day,” said Barker.

The coalition describes themselves as “A gathering of community members from all walks of life dedicated to collaborating and supporting the community in their youth substance prevention.”