PRESS RELEASE:
Kansas City Police are partnering with the Drug Enforcement Administration and the City of Kansas City in a first-ever nationwide drug take-back day.
Police are encouraging residents to bring their unused prescription and over-the-counter drugs to five take-back locations that officers will be manning throughout the city from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 25. The locations are:
• Swope Park, main Building at Gateway Opening, Meyer Boulevard and Swope Parkway
• KCPD Central Patrol Division Station, 1200 E. Linwood Ave.
• The Grove in Zona Rosa (by Marshall’s), 8690 N. Dixson
• KCPD East Patrol Division Station’s north parking lot, 5301 E. 27th St.
• St. Matthew’s Church, 8001 Longview Rd.
Residents can drop off the drugs anonymously with no questions asked. The Take-Back initiative is intended to prevent increased pill abuse and theft. The D.E.A. cites studies that show a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, often from a home medicine cabinet. The 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health found more Americans abuse prescription drugs than those abusing cocaine, hallucinogens and heroin combined.
While this is the first nationwide drug take-back event, this is the third year Kansas City Police have sponsored prescription take-back events.
Not only do unused prescription drugs present the potential for abuse, disposing of these drugs down the drain or toilet can poison the city’s water supply, harming humans and wildlife. For more information, go to http://www.dea.gov/.
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