Eastern Iowa Police Join Drug Take Back Day This Saturday

Police and law enforcement agencies in Eastern Iowa are joining their counterparts nationwide in participating in this Saturday's (October 23) "National Drug Take-Back Day" events.

What is National Drug Take-Back Day?

According to the United States Drug Enforcement Agency's (DEA) website, National Drug Take-Back Day "addresses a crucial public safety and public health issue."  That problem is, based on statistics from the 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the fact that 9.7 million Americans misused prescription pain relievers, 4.9 million people misused prescription stimulants, and 5.9 million people misused prescription tranquilizers or sedatives. The DEA says most of these abuse cases derived from drugs found by the abuser in the home of a friend, family member or loved one.

Cedar Falls Police Lieutenant Kari Rea said

The Drug Take-Back Day is a responsible and convenient way to dispose of prescription drugs and keep families and the community safe. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse including by children or teens.

How can I contribute to fixing this enormous problem?

KCRG says that in our area on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. there will be a number of locations where you can safely dispose of unused prescription medication. A list of those locations can be found here and include the Cedar Rapids Police Department (505 1st St SW), the Hiawatha Police Department (101 Emmons St.), and the Linn County Sherriff's Office (53 3rd Avenue Bridge). Please remove or obscure "identifying information" from bottle labels before taking them to your nearest location for Drug Take-Back Day.