Southlake Police Participate in National Drug Take Back Day

April is a time for spring cleaning and sprucing up your home and garden, but it’s also the perfect time to rid your home of unused prescription drugs.

Properly disposing of old or unused medicines will help keep them from getting into the wrong hands; especially, teenagers where prescription drug abuse is more prevalent. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) prescription and over-the-counter drugs are the most commonly abused substances by individuals age 14 and older, after marijuana and alcohol. Statistics show that teenagers often raid medicine cabinets putting them at even greater risk.

Each year the Southlake Police Department participates in the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA’s) National Drug Take Back Day. This year the event takes place on Saturday, April 30, 2016 from 10:00a.m. to 2:00p.m.

Individuals can bring unused prescription drugs to our designated drop-off location at our DPS Headquarters located at 600 State Street on the second floor. Participants will remain anonymous and no questions will be asked. 

Participants may dispose of pill-form medication either in its original container or by removing the medication from its container and dropping it directly into the disposal box. Liquid prescriptions, such as cough syrup, should remain in its original bottle. Please make sure the lid is tightly sealed to avoid spillage. A Southlake Police Officer will be on hand to keep the DEA container secured.

National Drug Take Back Day

Saturday, April 30, 2016

10:00AM – 2:00PM

DPS Headquarters 600 State Street

FAQs

• The drug take back program is anonymous and no requests for identification or personal information will be made.
• Participants may dispose of medication in its original container or dispose of it directly into the disposal box.
• All participants must retain possession of their own medication during the surrender process.
• No illicit drugs or substances such as marijuana or methamphetamine will be accepted.
• Intravenous solutions and syringes will not be accepted during this initiative due to potential blood-borne hazards.
• Collection boxes will be provided and each box will be labeled by law enforcement for proper disposal.

This is a great opportunity to safely dispose of unwanted or unused prescription drugs. National Take Back Day is open to everyone.

If you are unable to drop off your old and unused prescriptions on Saturday, The Southlake Police Department provides a secure safe for the disposal of unused medications at this same address Monday – Friday during normal business hours. Instructions to use the secure safe are located in the lobby at DPS Headquarters. The Southlake Police Department began it’s own drug take back program on June 3, 2013 and the safe is filled and emptied on a regular basis. The drugs are then properly disposed of.