The initiative that started seven years ago between the Moorhead Police Department and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to partner with local businesses to provide a free one-day Prescription Drug Take Back Program proved to be a success once again. Moorhead collections from Saturday April 29 weighed over 153 pounds! That brings our total to 2,853 pounds of prescription medications voluntarily turned in to be properly destroyed. The increasing success of the Prescription Drop-Off Program is obvious in the numbers.
Year 2010 -Total collection 283 pounds
Year 2016 - Total collection 768 pounds
This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs.
Twenty percent of teens say they have recreationally taken a prescription drug without having a prescription for it themselves, and five percent of teens reports abusing over-the-counter (OTC) cough medicine to get “high.” Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. Medicine abuse is our nation’s fastest-growing drug problem.
In the front lobby of the Moorhead Law Enforcement Center (915 9th Ave. N.), a medicine drop box for FREE disposal will continue to be available for Moorhead residents. Incineration is much safer than other common disposal methods such as flushing medicines down the toilet into the water table or putting in garbage landfills. There is no fee for this service and it is completely anonymous for everyone.
Moorhead Police Department
Lieutenant Tory Jacobson
218.299.5117
