MoCo Prescription Drug Takeback Program

Need to dispose of unused prescription drugs? Then mark down Saturday on your calendar.

The Montgomery County Harm Reduction Coalition has its biannual Prescription Drug Takeback Program scheduled to take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Montgomery County Courthouse Parking Lot. This program offers everyone in the community the opportunity to get rid of outdated or unneeded prescription drugs safely and at no cost.

Utilizing this opportunity to discard expired or unneeded medications is one way that you can directly help improve both the local community and the country nationwide. Partaking in this event prevents the medications from being misused by anyone else who might find them either accidentally or on purpose.

One of the deadliest class of drugs is opioids. This program is one part in fighting the bigger problem facing not only our country and state, but also our local community: The Opioid Epidemic. Reducing the presence of unneeded prescription drugs combats their misuse. Drug misuse use of a substance for a purpose not consistent with legal or medical guidelines. Prescription drug misuse can lead to physical and psychological reliance on drugs, which can lead to life threatening health problems.

Learning about the opioid epidemic is crucial to understanding the severity of the situation and why programs like this are critical. Almost 50,000 people in the United States alone died from opioid overdose in 2019. Locally, in 2019, the state of Indiana reported 1,161 opioid-related deaths, with 7 being in our own community. With over 5,000 opiates issued in the first quarter of 2021, and 17% of Montgomery County residents being issued opioids in the first quarter of 2021 alone, it is crucial that as a community we safely dispose of unneeded opioids to keep them from being misused.

Doctors prescribe synthetic opioids such as hydrocodone, oxycodone, codeine, morphine, and fentanyl because they offer medical benefits like pain relief. But, while these opioids fulfill their purpose, they also cause patients to enter a state of euphoria, or extreme happiness. This extremely addictive feeling results from the opioids interacting with receptors in the brain to alleviate pain, and it is a major cause of these prescriptions being misused by the patient or others who find it.

If you cannot attend Saturday, you can always properly dispose of prescription drugs and needles at the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office and the Crawfordsville Police Department at any time.