Residents take advantage of Medication Collection Day despite rain; 353 lbs collected
A steady stream of residents brought in a total of 353 lbs. of prescription drugs despite the rain Saturday for the annual Medication Collection Day.
Tri-Cap RSVP director Becky Beckman said that a total of 351 residents brought in 353 pounds of medications to be properly disposed of by the Jasper State Police Post.
Success! 353 lbs of unused medications removed from cabinets and not flushed down the toilet! #drugtakeback pic.twitter.com/yXjn4x9A2I
— Indiana State Police, Jasper District (@ISPJasper) April 30, 2016
The event is an important reminder for residents to dispose of unused prescription drugs.
- Medications are the leading cause of child poisoning today.
- Each year, more than 500,000 children under the age of five experience a potential poisoning related to medications.
- More than 60,000 children are treated in emergency departments due to accidental unsupervised ingestions each year.
- Currently, more children are brought to emergency departments for medication poisonings than for motor vehicle occupant injuries.
- Among young children, one of every 150 two-year-olds is being seen in the emergency department for medication-related poisoning.
- From 1979 to 2006, the poisoning death rate was cut in half, declining from 0.35 to 0.17 per 100,000 children. Yet, among all child poisoning deaths the number attributable to medications increased from 36 percent to 64 percent.
Along with removing these expired or unused medications from homes, Dubois County Solid Waste District director Carla Striegel-Winner reported over 101 pounds of plastic (including 24 pounds of lids for local schools) and 22 pounds of cardboard packaging were recycled.
Sponsors for the event included the Indiana State Police Post District 34, Dubois County Sheriff’s Department, Birdseye and Haysville Volunteer Fire Departments, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Dubois County Substance Abuse Council, Tri-CAP RSVP, Habig Older Americans Center and the Dubois County Solid Waste District.
Another collection day will be held in the fall, but residents are also encouraged to utilize the Huntingburg Police Department’s 24/7 lobby drop box, which is available to any Dubois County resident at any time.
For comparison, here are collection totals for the statewide effort.
Jasper – 353 lbs.
Indianapolis – 200 lbs.
Fort Wayne – 100 lbs.
Lafayette – 30 lbs.
Breman – 5 lbs.
Lowell – 34 lbs.
Peru – 70 lbs.
Evansville – 406 lbs.
Putnamville – 40 lbs.
Versailles – 20 lbs.
Pendleton – 59 lbs.
Sellersburg – 46 lbs.
Bloomington – 33 lbs.
Based on the success of the Drug Take Back events, plans are in progress for a fall 2016 collection date.