Saturday is National Drug Take Back Day (Doña Ana County)

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Tuesday, October 22, 2019; Las Cruces, NM: On Saturday, (October 26, 2019) from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.  local police departments and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will give the public its 18th opportunity in nine years to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs. Bring your pills for disposal to any of the below listed sites. (Sites cannot accept liquids, needles or sharps, only pills or patches.) The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked

Bring unused, unwanted or expired medications for disposal to the eight sites available in Las Cruces’ area and seven additional sites located in Doña Ana County including Anthony, Chaparral, Doña Ana, Hatch, Messila, San Miguel and Sunland Park (Click here for a map, and locations listed below). (Sites cannot accept liquids or needles or sharps, only pills or patches.)

Last fall nearly 469 tons (more than 937,000 pounds) of prescription drugs were collected at nearly 6,300 sites operated by the DEA and almost 5,000 of its state and local law enforcement partners. Overall, in the 17 previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners have taken in more than 11.8 million pounds—approximately 5,900 tons—of pills.

This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to misuse and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the United States are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health shows year after year that the majority of misused and abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including someone else’s medication being stolen from the home medicine cabinets.

In Doña Ana County almost 19% of High School students reported taking a prescription painkiller without a prescription on the most recent Youth Risk and Resiliency Survey, a self-reported survey of the healthy and not-so-healthy behaviors of youth.

Properly disposing of unused or expired medication from homes keeps the community safer from misuse and abuse, especially by youth.

“It is critically important to remove all prescription medications, especially those prescribed for pain, from homes and medicine cabinets properly and safely. Bringing them to the available sites on Take Back Day helps eliminate potential dangers posed from unused, unwanted or expired medications,” says Alyssa Myrick, Program Specialist with Unified Prevention (UP!) Coalition of Doña Ana County.

“Additional steps that can be taken to further safeguard the health and safety of our children, families and community include not sharing and locking up of all prescription medication,” advised Myrick.

National Drug Take Back Day partners include Anthony Police Department, DEA Las Cruces, Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office, Hatch Police Department, Las Cruces Police Department, Mesilla Marshal’s Department, New Mexico State Police, Sunland Park Police Department and the Unified Prevention (UP!) Coalition of Doña Ana County.

Medication disposal is available throughout the year for no cost at the green MedReturn kiosks located at Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office, 845 N. Motel Blvd. in Las Cruces, and at the Hatch Police Department, 5 Chile Capital Ln.

For more information about the disposal of prescription drugs or about October’s upcoming  Drug Take Back Day event, go to www.DEATakeBack.com or contact  Alyssa Myrick at (575) 597-0024 or email: amyrick@swchi.org

This news release is made available by the Unified Prevention (UP!) Coalition of Doña Ana County, a program of the Center for Health Innovation, and funded by the New Mexico Office of Substance Abuse Prevention (OSAP).

National Drug Take Back Day locations in Doña Ana County:

Chaparral

  • Stires Supermarket 304 McCombs Rd.

Doña Ana

  • Our Lady of Purification Church, 5525 Cristo Rey St.

Las Cruces

  • Branigan Library, 200 E Picacho Ave.
  • Mayfield High School, 1955 N Valley Dr.
  • New Mexico State Police Building, 4055 Sonoma Ranch Blvd.
  • Toucan Market, 1701 #1 E. University Ave.
  • Walmart, 1550 S Valley Dr.
  • Walmart, 571 Walton Blvd.
  • Walmart Neighborhood Market, 150 Sonoma Ranch Blvd.
  • Walmart, 3331 Rinconada Blvd.

Anthony

  • Anthony Senior Center, 865 Anthony Dr.

Hatch

  • Village of Hatch Administration Building, 133 Franklin St.

Mesilla

  • Mesilla Town Administration Building, 2231 Avenida de Mesilla.

San Miguel

  • San Ezequiel Moreno Parish Hall, 19230 NM-28

Sunland Park

  • Sunland Park Fire Department, 1030 McNutt Rd