ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The Ann Arbor Police Department and the University of Michigan Division of Pain Research combined efforts on Oct. 8 to offer the community a safe way to dispose of unwanted prescription drugs. In this, the pair’s fourth venture, 192 community members returned unused and unwanted medications from their homes.
According to U-M, among Washtenaw County residents ages 21 or younger, unintentional or undetermined opioid pain reliever overdoses more than doubled from 2014 to 2015. Prescription pain relievers, such as OxyContin and Vicodin, are most commonly abused.
With the primary goal to raise awareness of the opioid epidemic in our community, the event also collected an astounding 118 pounds of pills, including more than 5,000 pills/patches of opioids.
For those unable to attend the take-back event, there are daily drop-off locations within Washtenaw County, listed at https://medicine.umich.edu/sites/default/files/content/downloads/large%20flyer%2010.10.2016.pdf (PDF). The AAPD and university will also host another take-back event in the spring of 2017. For more information on these efforts, visit https://medicine.umich.edu/dept/pain-research/pain-medication-take-back-program/disposing-household-medications-find-take-back-location-what-best-way-dispose-medications.
