Ditch Your Doses at the Police Station on April 29th
The Cedar Rapids Police Department, in cooperation with the Drug Enforcement Administration, will host a prescription drug drop-off event at the Police Station, 505 1st Street SW, on Saturday, April 29th from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the front lobby. Citizens may bring in their unused prescription medications, which will be collected and properly disposed of. This event is part of National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, which aims to provide a safe, convenient, and responsible means of disposing of prescription drugs, while also educating the general public about the potential for abuse of medications.
The majority of prescription drug abusers report in surveys that they get their drugs from friends and family. Cleaning out old prescription drugs from medicine cabinets, kitchen drawers, and bedside tables reduces accidents, thefts, and the misuse and abuse of these medicines, including the opioid painkillers that accounted for 20,808 drug overdoses—78 a day—in 2014 (the most recent statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Eight out of 10 new heroin users began by abusing prescription painkillers and moved to heroin when they could no longer obtain or afford those painkillers.
At the prescription drop-off event held on October 22, 2016, at the Cedar Rapids Police Department, there was 310 pounds of medication collected. At the previous event in April 2016, there was 468 pounds of medication collected. According to the Drug Enforcement Agency, there were 731,269 pounds collected across the nation at drug takeback events. In Iowa, there were 8,556 pounds of medication collected. Since the DEA National Takeback initiative started, there has been over 7 million pounds of drugs collected at these events.
The Police Department also has a drug disposal box located in the vestibule of the Police Station. The drug disposal box allows the public a convenient means of disposing unused medications throughout the year. Using the drug disposal box at the Police Station helps protect the quality of our water and can prevent prescription drug misuse and abuse. Traditional methods for disposing of unused medications such as flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash can pose threats to our groundwater. Additionally, leftover medications are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse and abuse.
For additional drop-off site locations visit: www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback/index.html.
For more information about preventing the misuse of prescription medications, please visit www.facebook.com/easterniowaheroininitiative. The Cedar Rapids Police Department is proud to partner with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa as part of the Eastern Iowa Heroin Initiative. The Initiative is focused on heroin prevention, prescription pill abuse education, and Community Resources United to Stop Heroin (CRUSH).
