L-R: Lt. Dana Williams from the Stevens Point Police Department; Sharalee Simkins, record specialist from the Plover Police Department, and Capt. Joshua Ostrowski from the Portage Co. Sheriff's Office pose with the county's outgoing shipment of medicine on Oct. 25, 2021. (Metro Wire photo)

Report: Wisconsin ranks No. 1 in Drug Take Back supply

November 4, 2021November 5, 2021

By Brandi Makuski

Wisconsin ranks number one in the fall 2021 drug take-back event.

The Badger State collected 57,377 pounds of unwanted or leftover medications during the annual Drug Take-Back events held across the state in October, according to Attorney General Josh Kaul. Since the program began in 2001, Wisconsin has collected 980,854 pounds of unused or unwanted over-the-counter and prescription medicine.

Wisconsin ranked number two behind California or Texas in previous years, according to the Department of Justice.

But Wisconsin also had more law enforcement agencies participating in last month’s event, and more collection sites, than any other state. According to the DOJ, Wisconsin had 261 law enforcement agencies and 300 collection sites last month. By comparison, Texas had 194 law enforcement agencies and 217 collection sites and took in 55,749 pounds of drugs. California has 198 sites and 141 agencies involved, collecting 41,970 pounds of medicine.

The Drug Take-Back events are held each April and October to prevent unused and unwanted medications from being misused or improperly disposed of in the water supply.

Sheriff Mike Lukas said Portage Co. collected more than 1,200 pounds of medicine, down from previous local collection events.

The collected medications were boxed, palletized, shrink-wrapped, and secured for transportation to Covanta Energy Corporation in Indianapolis, where the drugs were incinerated.