MADISON (WKOW) -- Drug Take Back Day is Saturday, April 28, 2018. It's a chance to get rid of your unused prescription drugs to avoid them getting in the wrong hands.More than 300 law enforcement agencies are participating in the event across the state, according to the Wisconsin Department of Justice.
Attorney General Brad Schimel says the campaign is a vital step in snuffing out the opioid epidemic that he says has grown to outrageous proportions.
Schimel says state and local law enforcement agencies have been dismantling drug networks involving heroin, as well as networking with pharmacists to spot addiction, but the key to the continuing problem starts at home by getting rid of unused prescription drugs.
The campaign called A Dose of Reality is in its third year now. The objective is to get people to turn in their unused or old prescription drugs.
Schimel says research shows 70 percent of heroin users in the state started by abusing prescription drugs.
"They did not get them from a doctor, they did not get them from a traditional street, drug dealer, they got them from a family member, or a friend. Sometimes, someone sharing their medications, other times, someone stole someone else's medication," says Schimel.
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