Prescription Drug Take Back Day Success

On Saturday, Oct. 25, the Drug Free Montgomery County Harm Reduction Committee hosted the biannual Prescription Drug Take Back Day event in the parking lot of First Christian Church.

On this day, Lt. Bob Rivers with the Crawfordsville Police Department was visited by a total of 37 cars stopping by to properly dispose of unwanted, unneeded or unused medication. Lt. Rivers was able to collect 86 pounds of medications!

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, located at 600 Memorial Drive and the Crawfordsville Police Department, located at 311 North Green St.

In the last six months, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s office has collected around 131 pounds of medications, and the Crawfordsville Police Department has collected around 934 pounds of medication. An approximate total of 1,000 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, located at 1580 Constitution Row, Suite G and at the Crawfordsville Police Department lobby, 311 N. Green St.

The next Prescription Drug Take Back Day event will be on Saturday, April 25.

The Drug Free Montgomery County Harm Reduction Committee would like to give a special thanks to First Christian Church for partnering with Drug Free Montgomery County on this initiative. The First Christian Church graciously allowed Lieutenant Rivers to utilize the church parking lot as the location for this event. The Harm Reduction Committee would also like to give a special thanks to the Crawfordsville Police Department and Lt. Rivers for making this event possible!

As always, many resources can be found on the Drug Free Montgomery County’s website at 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.