Drug Takeback Day set for Saturday

EAST TEXAS — Several law enforcement agencies and prevention advocates are gearing up for the semi-annual DEA Takeback event to be held Oct. 23 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at various locations around East Texas. The Tyler Police Department event will be held in the parking lot at Brookshire’s on Rice Road, while the UT Tyler Police will host another at the UT Health Science Center on Highway 271. According to a press release from Next Step Community Solutions, other events will be held at Walmart in Kilgore and Marshall. Residents are encouraged to bring their unneeded prescription drugs (other than needles or aerosols) to one of these events or drop boxes. Officials say other disposal methods “can be problematic.”

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, more than half of those over age 12 who abuse prescription drugs said they got them from friends and family, sometimes taking them from an unattended medicine cabinet. Next Step is a Tyler-based nonprofit focused on mental health services and substance abuse prevention among area youth.