Editor,

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 28, we once again sponsored the Drug Take Back Program in our local communities, giving our citizens the opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs.

The Island County Sheriff’s Office and Coupeville Police Department collected over 160 pounds of drugs which will be destroyed in accordance with federal guidelines.

The City of Oak Harbor also participated in the one-day collection event.

My thanks to all of you who took advantage of this service.

My hope is that in the “not-so-distant future” our pharmaceutical companies will ensure that local pharmacies are provided with on-site collection containers to afford a more convenient location for prescription drug disposal of unused medication; in the meantime we will continue to offer this quarterly collection service to members of our local community.

Island County Sheriff Mark Brown and Coupeville Marshal’s Office