On April 27, the Drug Free Montgomery County Harm Reduction Committee hosted the biannual Prescription Drug Take Back Day event in the parking lot of the Montgomery County Courthouse.
On this day, Lieutenant Bob Rivers, with the Crawfordsville Police Department, collected 141 pounds of unneeded, unused and expired medications. This is the largest amount of medications collected during Drug Take Back Day than any past event.
Not only do we collect unneeded, unused and expired medications during Drug Take Back Day, Montgomery County also has two permanent drop off locations that are available year-round. The locations where medications can be properly disposed of include the Montgomery County Sheriff’s office, 600 Memorial Drive, and the Crawfordsville Police Department, 311 N. Green St.
In the last six months, the MCSO has collected around 949 pounds of medications and the CPD has collected around 264 pounds of medications. An approximate total of 1,350 pounds was taken to the DEA for proper disposal. This total comes from medications disposed of at each permanent site and Prescription Drug Take Back Day.
The permanent disposal locations and the Prescription Drug Take Back Day events help reduce the risk of old medications ending up in the wrong hands. By reducing this risk, we also reduce the risk of substance misuse which plays a key role in combating the issue of substance use within our community.
It is also important to remember the importance of proper disposal for not only medication, but for sharps/needles. Sharps can be safely disposed of at the Montgomery County Health Department, 1580 Constitution Row, Suite G, and at the CPD lobby.
The next Prescription Drug Take Back Day event will be Oct. 26.
As always, many resources can be found on the Drug Free Montgomery County’s website at www.drugfreemoco.org. For further questions, reach out to Diamond Justus at diamond@mcysb.org.
Drug Free Montgomery County is a program of the Youth Service Bureau. The YSB is a United Way in Montgomery County partner agency and is also supported by the Montgomery County Community Foundation.
