News and Articles

NEWS RELEASE

10/28/2013

Santa Fe County Drug Take Back Day Piles up Pounds of Pills

(Santa Fe, NM) – Santa Fe County residents emptied their medicine cabinets of over 150 pounds of unused, unwanted and expired prescription medications during the fall Drug Take Back Day on Saturday, October 26. Officers from the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s office, the Santa Fe Police department, Edgewood Police and New Mexico State Police collected a pickup truck full of drugs in six different locations throughout Santa Fe County, from Edgewood to Pojoaque.

“Having a safe way to dispose of these unused of medications cluttering up our medicine cabinets is an important tool to overcome the epidemic of prescription drug abuse,” said Rachel O’Connor Director of Santa Fe County Community Services Department.

In conjunction with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) the Santa Fe County Sheriff, City and State Police and Edgewood Police set up collection stations at Smith’s Grocery store in Edgewood, two Albertson’s grocery stores in Santa Fe, the Pojoaque fire station, Wal-Mart in Santa Fe and the Agora Pharmacy in Eldorado. People brought their pill bottles and dumped them into collection boxes, taking advantage of this free and anonymous service.

New Mexico has the second highest drug overdose death rate in the United States. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. Americans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines—flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash—pose safety and health hazards and should not be done.

Additional drug take back events are planned for 2014 as well as permanent collection sites at the Sheriff’s office and State Police District Headquarters. The locations of these permanent collection sites will be announced as they become active.

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For further information contact Peter Olson 992-9844 or polson@santafecountynm.gov