Tuesday, November 5, 2019; Bayard, NM: This October’s Drug Enforcement Agency’s (DEA) National Drug Take Back Day was the first-time residents could dispose of medications at two locations in Grant County: Bayard Public Safety Building and Silver City’s WalMart Super Center. County-wide, nearly 200 pounds of unused medications were collected in a single day.
The option of a second location proved the major success of this year’s event, especially since this was the first time Bayard Police Department hosted a medication disposal site.
Almost 150 pounds of unused medications were collected in the tri-city location saving residents in Bayard, Hurley and Santa Clara the 16 plus-mile trip to Silver City, where previous years’ events were located.
“I’m humbled by the participation of our community and their recognition of the seriousness of this issue and stepping forward to be a collective partner in the solution,” said Bayard Chief of Police Lee Alirez.
“We had many people bring the medications of relatives who have passed away,” reported Corina Castillo, project specialist for the Youth Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition (YSAPC) of Grant County which aids in coordinating the county-wide event.
“Also, people brought the unused pills they had left over when their medications were switched and pills they didn’t need anymore,” added Castillo.
Chief Alirez said, “Residents brought in opioids including OxyContin and serious psychotropic drugs. It’s good these drugs were disposed of properly and kept from the possibility of misuse.”
Unused or expired medications left in the home can be a hazard for family members, creating an opportunity for accidental poisoning and unintended overdoses to occur if medications fall into the wrong hands.
Cleaning out medicine cabinets of unused or expired medications, and securing medications, like prescription pain pills or opioids, keeps them from being misuses and abused, and lowers the overall risk factors in our communities.
An additional 44 pounds were collected at the Silver City site, hosted by the Silver City Police Department.
“It was an awesome turnout with an increased collection from previous events, and it was a great opportunity to educate the public about drug safety and disposal resources in the county,” said Community Resource Officer Manny Jaure of the Silver City Police Department.
Castillo added, “I want to thank all participating partners for helping make this event a successful resource for our community members. YSAPC looks forward to continuing the collective work with partner agencies, county-wide.”
Medication disposal is available year-round at the green MedReturn kiosks located in the Bayard Public Safety Building, 801 Central Ave., and in Silver City at 1106 N. Pope Street, across from street from Hidalgo Medical Services’ Silver City Community Health Center.
This October’s DEA Drug Take Back Day was made possible Youth Substance Abuse Coalition members: Bayard Police Department, Silver City Police Department, New Mexico Department of Health, Grant County DWI Program and with the additional support of the Silver City WalMart Super Center.
For more information on medication disposal and security visit the Dose of Reality New Mexico website: https://doseofreality.com/prevention/
YSAPC next meets Thursday, November 21, 2019, at noon, location to be announced. The public is invited to attend.
For more information on YSAPC contact Castillo at (575) 597-0025 or email ccastillo@swchi.org.
This news release is made available by the Youth Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition (YSAPC) of Grant County, a program of the Center for Health Innovation, New Mexico’s designated Public Health Institute, and funded by the New Mexico Office of Substance Abuse Prevention (OSAP).
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