Question: Please print the locations for the drug take-back. Both myself and my son have chronic illnesses that our doctors are trying new medications to control, so we have a few unused prescriptions and I don’t like having this other stuff around for a variety of reasons.
Answer: The National Take-Back Initiative is set to collect unwanted prescription drugs on April 27 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at a total of nine locations on Oahu, Maui, Kauai and Hawaii island, according to a flyer from the state Department of the Attorney General. Besides their convenient locations, the beauty of these events is that there are no questions asked — most prescription drugs are accepted for safe, anonymous disposal without the person dropping off the medication having to explain why they have the drugs or why they want to get rid of them. Tablets, pills, capsules and liquids are generally accepted, but needles and syringes are not; neither are batteries from vapes or e-cigarettes.
Here are the locations, according to the flyer:
Oahu
>> Kailua fire station parking lot, 211 Kuulei Road
>> State Capitol, drive-thru along 415 S. Beretania St.
>> Pearl City police station parking lot, 1100 Waimano Home Road
>> Times Supermarket Kahala parking lot, 1173 21st Ave.
>> Key Project Multi-Purpose Center parking lot, 47-200 Waihee Road
Kauai
>> Kauai Police Department parking lot, 3990 Kaana St., Lihue
Maui
>> Maui Police Department parking lot, 55 Mahalani St., Wailuku
Hawaii island
>> Kona police station parking lot, 74-611 Hale Makai Place
>> Ka Waena Lapa‘au Medical Complex, upper parking lot at corner of Ponahawai and Komohana streets in Hilo
For more information, see dea.gov/takebackday.
Change of venue
The location of Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi’s town hall this Thursday has changed. It will be held in the Pikake Room at Neal S. Blaisdell Center, 777 Ward Ave., according to a notice from the mayor’s office. The forum, meant for downtown, Chinatown and Kalihi residents, will start at 6:30 p.m. There will be free parking in the Blaisdell Center parking structure. The event formerly had been scheduled to happen at Ke‘elikolani Middle School.
Auwe
I was late for church Sunday because the driver in front of me sat through a green light, I think because they were looking at their phone. I can’t be sure because I was behind them, but I could tell they were looking down and not straight ahead. I didn’t honk because that seemed rude on my way to church, and I didn’t think they would sit through the whole light — but next time I will honk! — A driver
(Editor’s note: Longtime Oahu residents generally don’t like to honk in traffic, but drivers transfixed by cellphones are testing their patience. More important, distracted driving is a safety hazard. In 2023 the Honolulu Police Department cited more than 4,700 drivers for alleged violations of Hawaii’s Mobile Electronic Device Law, which makes it illegal to operate a motor vehicle while holding a mobile electronic device or, if the driver is under 18, even while using a hands-free device. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 291C-137.)
Mahalo
Thank you to the driver at Aina Haina Shopping Center who went out of his way to make sure I did not lose an important piece of mail. First he tried to signal to me without stopping that I had dropped something, but when I didn’t “get it,” he pulled over, parked, picked up the envelope from the parking lot and caught up with me as I walked into the Aina Haina post office to mail my bills. He had been on his way out of the parking lot when he saw me drop the envelope, which I did not even realize. — Grateful resident
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
