National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day observed

SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. (WWLP) - Medicine cabinets in many Springfield area homes are no longer filled with expired and unwanted medications as Western Massachusetts observed National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day .

The South Hadley Police Department was one of many collections sites.

Before the day was over the people of Massachusetts are expected to have dropped off 12,000 pounds of medications they no longer needed nor wanted to clutter their homes.

22News asked everyone the same question. Were you surprised by how much you'd accumulated in one year?

“Yes, yes, unbelievable, it just piles up. Expired prescription drugs, expired over the counter drugs, you just throw them in the bag. I was hoping to get rid of them sometimes,” said Vin Jackson of South Hadley.

Exactly yeah, there wasn't a lot of real drugs, prescription drugs. It was mostly aspirin, Ecotrin, you know whole boxes but they had expired,” said Karen Povoda of South Hadley.

Nationally last year, people got rid of 188 tons of expired or unwanted medicines.

The medications collected locally on Saturday were carted off to Agawam to be disposed of at the Bondi's Island incinerator.