Citizens looking to dispose of excess and expired prescription and over-the-counter medications can now visit the safe and secure permanent drop off location at the West Point Police Department.
Healthy Communities Initiative has partnered with West Point Police Department to establish a permanent MedReturn drug collection program in order to reduce the supply of drugs that can potentially harm teens and adults. According to the 2011 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), more than six million Americans abuse prescription drugs. Among youth who are 12 to 17 years old, 7.4 percent report past year non-medical use of prescription drugs.
Properly disposing of excess drugs is everyone’s responsibility as a matter of public safety. More than 70 percent of young people abusing prescription pain relievers get them through friends or family, a statistic that includes raiding the family medicine cabinet. Now West Point citizens won’t have to wait for a specific take-back day to clean out their medicine cabinets.
Medications can be conveniently dropped off Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the West Point Police Department (444 S. Main St.). There are certain items that are not accepted by the Med Return Unit and they will be posted on the window of the lobby of the West Point Police Department.
The MedReturn Drug Collection unit is a project of the Health Communities Initiative (HCI) which is a substance abuse prevention coalition that serves Burt, Cuming, Madison and Counties. Funding for the MedReturn Drug Collection Unit is provided by Drug Free Communities grant funds. Medication incineration fees provided by St. Francis Memorial Hospital.
The mission of HCI coalition is to support activities which focus on reducing and preventing alcohol, tobacco and other drug abuse and misuse. The MedReturn Drug Collection Unit helps HCI achieve this goal by giving people a safe and environmentally friendly way of disposing of unused medications so that they don’t fall into the wrong hands. For more information on HCI, please visit our website at www.hcicoalition.org or call 402-529-2233.