Unused, unwanted, or outdated prescription medications can now be dropped off at approximately 25 prescription drug drop boxes in the state.
Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics Director John Dowdy said that a lot of the police and sheriff’s departments have drop boxes for prescription medications along with every highway patrol troop headquarters.
Dowdy added that they are continuing to add more locations. The most recent being the placement of five prescription drop boxes for the City of Jackson Police Department.
The Mississippi Department of Mental Health and the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics helped to purchase the boxes for the City of Jackson through funding from the Mississippi Prevention Alliance for Communities and Colleges and the Stand Up, Mississippi Opioid Partnership. Both are grants awarded to Mississippi through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
“It’s important to get rid of the unused prescription medication,” Dowdy said. “Thieves are starting to target prescription drugs in the home when you have a home invasion, young people are starting to experiment with these prescription drugs more and more, it is a safety thing and it also keeps drugs off the street.”
Dowdy added that while they have 25 drop boxes currently they are continuing to talk with sheriff’s and police chiefs across the state to get more available.
“Right now most of them are concentrated along the coast and in the central Mississippi area,” Dowdy said. “We’ve got some up in north Mississippi and we are looking at every avenue that we can to try to make these more available to the public.”
