FAIRBURY - In partnership with the Drug Enforcement Administration's nationwide initiative to combat drug abuse, local law enforcement agencies across Nebraska participated in National Drug Take Back Day on April 26, helping give citizens a safe way to dispose of unused and unwanted medications.

The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office was one of more than two dozen organizations across the state that served as local hosts for this national program last Saturday, and Sheriff Nick Georgi said Friday Jefferson County collected 97 pounds of unused or expired medication over the past year - nearly three full trash bags worth.


The DEA's Drug Take Back day began as a way to curtail controlled substances and combat a nationwide opioid epidemic before it expanded to its current setup where all expired or unsafe drugs can be safely discarded in partnership with law enforcement agencies across the country. 

"When the DEA decided they were going to nationwide with this they knew that they would need partners to do it, so years ago they started reaching out to local law enforcement, state agencies, and tried to see if there was interest," Georgi said. "Opioid addiction is an issue in Nebraska, and the previous sheriff, as well as myself, recognized that that is a problem here, and we took that opportunity to take part in this partnership, and it’s a good deal to get those unneeded medications out of homes, and get them properly disposed of." 


Even though many of other two dozen-plus drop-off locations across Nebraska are in larger places such as Douglas and Sarpy Counties, Georgi says this program gives citizens in all areas a safe outlet to get rid of these unsafe meds.

"I think it’s great for rural communities. I grew up in a rural community, and I’d never heard of these before," he said. "I think being able to offer that in a small community is beneficial to anyone – I know Saturday we had people that weren’t just here from Fairbury, we had some from smaller communities in our county too. The days of disposing meds down the toilet, the EPA doesn’t want you to do that anymore, so what do you do with the meds? Well no one really has the right answer, and this is just a way for people to get rid of them properly."

Georgi said the county met up with the DEA's regional crew on Wednesday to determine the final tally of nearly 100 pounds of medication and, more importantly, to ensure both the medication and its containers were correctly cared for. The DEA collects all the rounded up medication and containers from all the local organizations and returns them to the division headquarters in Omaha to be processed and then disposed of. 


Since drug addiction and abuse is a constant concern, the collection box in the county's sheriff's office remains open year-round so people can always have an outlet to get rid of potentially harmful drugs.