Safely Handling Medications: Resources in Dane County
Every year on the last Saturday of October, National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is held. This year, it falls on October 25, 2025, and over 15 drop-off events will take place throughout Dane County. Including three Safe Communities hosted events in Madison at Elver Park, Warner Park, and Mt. Zion Baptist Church (10am-1pm) from 10 am-2 pm that Saturday. To find a list of all sites throughout Dane County click here: https://safercommunity.net/event/national-prescription-drug-take-back-day-5/ National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is an opportunity to safely and responsibly dispose of expired and unused medications. Why is this important? Proper disposal protects the environment by keeping ecosystems healthy and preventing harm to wildlife (OECD, 2022). We also know that more than half of people who misuse prescription pain relievers get them from friends or family. Safely storing and disposing of medication when it’s no longer needed helps keep our loved ones safe (MHA).How Prescription Drug Take Back Day Works
Find a Take Back Day location near you and walk, bike, roll, or drive through the drop-off during the scheduled hours. Volunteers and members of the local police department will be present to collect your medications and ensure they’re properly disposed of. Preparing your medications for drop-off:- Leave the medication in its original pharmacy container and remove or cross out personal information on the label, or
- Remove the medications from the containers and place them in a resealable bag.
- Illegal drugs
- Biohazardous materials
- Bodily fluids or blood
- Mercury thermometers
- Household hazardous items (paint, pesticides, oil, gas)
- Needles/sharps
- Vape pens or e-cigarette devices with built-in, non-removable batteries
- Personal care products (shampoo, soap, lotions, sunscreen)
Year-Round Medication Disposal
There are locations throughout Dane County where you can safely dispose of unused and expired medications year-round. These are called MedDrop locations. How MedDrop works:- Bring your unused or expired medications and a resealable bag to a MedDrop location.
- Keep medications in their original bottles until you’re at the MedDrop station.
- Empty pill bottles into the resealable bag and recycle the bottles—either by taking them home or using the container provided at the station. Be sure to block out personal information before recycling.
- Leave liquids, gels, or creams in their original containers and place them in the bag.
- Place the sealed bag into the MedDrop box.
- Prescription medication
- Over-the-counter medication
- Vitamins
- Medication samples
- Nebulizer solution
- Inhalers
- IV bags (find disposal locations at: Dane County Clean Sweep)
- Nebulizer machines
- Thermometers
- Sharps, EpiPens, or anything with a needle or lancet (find sharps disposal locations here)..
At-Home Medication Disposal Kits
Safe Communities also offers free medication disposal kits, including Deterra and DisposeRx.- Deterra: “The patented Deterra® System deactivates prescription drugs—pills, patches, liquids, creams, and films—making them inert, unavailable for misuse, and safe for the environment. In a simple three-step process, a user puts the drugs in the Deterra pouch, adds water, shakes, and throws it away.”
- DisposeRx: “When the patented DisposeRx powder is poured into a vial with medication and water, it dissolves and activates crosslinking polymers. The active ingredients are rendered unusable and unavailable.”
Preventing and Responding to Overdoses
- Safely store medications in lockboxes to make sure they are only accessed by those they are prescribed to.
- Test your drugs before use with fentanyl and xylazine test strips—these single-use strips can help to detect the presence of these substances.
- Always have naloxone (Narcan), a medication that reverses opioid overdoses, on hand.
