| Box collects 100 pounds in first month |
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Posted: Tuesday, November 17, 2009 11:54 pm
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Rice County went to the box in full force, it seems.
Last week, law enforcement officials emptied the boxes that went up in September in Northfield and Faribault as part of the county Chemical Health Coalition’s “Take it to the Box” campaign.
The boxes are secure depositories where people can drop off their old, unused prescriptions. Law enforcement also made it clear that anyone who happened upon nonprescription, controlled substances could drop them in the box as well, no questions asked. Each box is located at its community’s police station.
The program has been implemented successfully in Chisago County, where drugs worth $2.5 million on the street have been destroyed.
Rice County Chemical Health Coalition representatives said Friday during the public emptying of the boxes that the county has seen a marked increase in prescription drug abuse. In the northern part of the county in particular, opiate addiction, including prescription medications like Vicodin, Hydrocodone and Oxycodone, is a serious problem.
Overall, more than 100 pounds of drugs, both non-hazardous and DEA-controlled, were collected. Everything from Pepto-Bismol to Metamucil to inhalers and syringes were found. After all the drugs are sorted and weighed, they will be sealed in barrels and stored for pickup by the federal Drug Enforcement Agency. From there, the nonhazardous medications will be incinerated, and the controlled substances will be taken to a toxic waste incinerator in Illinois.
That’s 100 fewer pounds of drugs that could pollute our waterways or our children’s veins. Kudos to the coalition for bringing the program here and to everyone who was smart enough to dump their old meds.
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