The Kirkland Police Department now offers an ongoing program that allows citizens to dispose of unwanted prescription drugs into a secured receptacle in the Police Department lobby, located at the Kirkland Justice Center, 11750 NE 118th Street. Citizens can anonymously dispose of their unused prescription drugs Monday through Friday between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Items not accepted include sharps, weapons and hazardous waste. Prescription containers are permitted, however, the public is encouraged to place pills in sealable plastic bags prior to disposal. The prescription drugs are later incinerated in a facility approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

During the past several years, the Kirkland Police Department partnered with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and the “Drug Take Back” program to help reduce the diversion, misuse, and abuse of prescription drugs. The DEA program ended in September 2014.

According to the DEA, rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs.  Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. In addition, the usual methods for disposing of unused medicines — flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash — pose potential safety and health hazards.

For more information about the drug take back please contact Lieutenant Nick Seibert, Kirkland Police Department at 425-587-3445 or nseibert@kirklandwa.gov.