Medication Disposal

In an effort to prevent both prescription and over-the-counter drugs from falling into the wrong hands the Ashe County Sheriff’s Office proudly participates in Operation Medicine Drop.

In our lobby here at the Ashe County Sheriff’s Office you will find two secure drop boxes for Operation Medicine Drop where citizens can safely and anonymously dispose of unwanted or expired medications.

Dropping expired or no longer needed medications, including narcotics, into one of our drop boxes ensures that they will not be flushed down the drain. This prevents chemicals from ending up in our community’s water supply. More importantly, safe disposal of drugs ensures that children do not stumble upon them and ingest them which helps to prevent accidental poisonings. Keeping these drugs out of your medicine cabinet and out of the wrong hands helps combat drug abuse and overdoses.

The Ashe County Sheriff’s Office partners with the SBI, Safe Kids North Carolina, and the Drug Enforcement Administration annually to collect and safely destroy prescription drugs during Operation Medicine Drop.

North Carolinians have safely disposed of approximately 80,600 pounds of pills at Operation Medicine Drop events from 2013 to 2018.

Keep an eye out for updates in the News section on this website and on our Facebook page for an announcement of our next Operation Medicine Drop drug take back event or come into our office to dispose of your unwanted medications.

Our office lobby is open Monday through Friday from 8am to 5pm. There are two secured drop boxes in our lobby for your safe disposal of any prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications or even narcotics.

You do not need an appointment to use the Operation Medicine Drop boxes so feel free to come in any time the office is open.

As a service to our elderly population or those without reliable transportation,  if you are unable to come into our office and need to dispose of medications we can have a patrol officer come to you. Please call our Communications Center at 336-846-5600 and explain that you’re needing to safely dispose of medications and do not have the ability to come to the office and, if there are no pressing or emergent calls happening, we will dispatch a deputy to come to your home to pick up your unwanted medications and safely dispose of them.

In addition to the drop boxes in our lobby, there are four other locations in Ashe County with mediation drop boxes:

– Jefferson Drug at 418 E. Main Street, Jefferson, NC 28640
– Warrensville Drug at 5121 NC Hwy 88 West, Warrensville, NC 28693
– People’s Drug 423 E. 2nd Street, West Jefferson, NC 28694
– Ashe Memorial Hospital at 200 Hospital Ave., Jefferson, NC 28640

Our Next Operation Medicine Drop event will be held at the Ashe County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday, October 29th, 2020 during out Hope 4 the Holidays event.

Click {HERE} for more information on this annual event.