BPD to Participate in Prescription Drug Take Back Day

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 21, 2012

For more information, please contact:
Captain Joe Qualters, Bloomington Police Department, (812) 349-3317, [mailto:qualterj@bloomington.in.gov],

BPD to Participate in Prescription Drug Take Back Day

The Bloomington Police Department will participate in another National Prescription Drug Take Back Day to be held on Saturday, September 29, 2012. The event will take place from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. with officers available at the Bloomington Police Department to take expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs. The prescription drugs will be accepted in their original pill containers or any in any other manner in which they are transported to the Department. Those dropping off prescription drugs do not need to provide their name and no inventory of the drugs are necessary. Once accepted, the drugs will be placed in boxes that will be sealed for transport to a disposal facility.

BPD personnel will be located on the eastside of the Department on Lincoln Street just south of East Third Street. Lincoln Street is one way north so citizens must come from the south to reach the drop off location. A suggested route would be to travel south on South Washington Street to Smith Avenue which runs on the south side of Third Street Park. Go east (left) on Smith Avenue to Lincoln Street and turn north (left). Look for the traffic cones and officers near the Department as a guide to the drop off point.

The National Prescription Drug Take Back Day was begun in 2010 by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and was a major success. On April 28, 2012, citizens turned in a record-breaking 552,161 pounds (276 tons) of unwanted or expired medications for safe and proper disposal at the 5,659 take-back sites that were available in all 50 states and U.S. territories. When the results of the four Take-Back Days to date are combined, the DEA and its state, local, and tribal law-enforcement and community partners have removed over 1.5 million pounds (774 tons) of medication from circulation.

The Bloomington Police Department participated in the event in April, 2011 and collected over 200 lbs. of expired, unwanted or unused prescription drugs that were transported to Indianapolis to be destroyed by the DEA.

This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. More than seven million Americans currently abuse prescription drugs according to the 2009 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration's National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Each day, approximately 2,500 teens use prescription drugs to get high for the first time according to the Partnership for a Drug Free America. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends including the home medicine cabinet. Locally, approximately 20% of participants in the Monroe County Drug Treatment Court are in treatment for issues related to prescription drug abuse.

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