Centre County is continuing their stand against heroin and opioid abuse.

There are now officially eight medication collection boxes installed across the county. The drop boxes are in the Willowbank building, the courthouse and the Sheriff’s office in Bellefonte, as well as the municipal police departments across the county – State College, Bellefonte, Ferguson and Patton Townships and Penn State Police.

The Bellefonte Borough Police Department has had a box for three years now. Their chief said they’ve collected 2,200 pounds of medication over that period of time.

You can bring controlled and non-controlled substances, both prescription and over-the-counter drugs.

These collection boxes are accessible to the public and there is no fee to use them. You do not have to give any personal information.

Officials said these boxes will keep medication out of the hands of addicts as well as the groundwater supply.

Their efforts echo an already existing push against the heroin and opioid epidemic, statewide.

“It’s holding steady and one of the big issues we’re trying to push back on with this is that people have less chance of getting their hands on other peoples’ prescriptions, if when they’re unused, they’re immediately disposed of properly,” Centre County District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller said. 

These boxes were installed thanks to a grant from the District Attorneys Association. The medication will be destroyed in an incinerator.