Verde Valley AZ (April 15, 2014) – A Dump the Drugs event will be held on April 26th at 6 locations county wide, including Cottonwood, Sedona, Camp Verde, Prescott, Prescott Valley and Chino Valley. MATFORCE and area law enforcement are joining with the National Prescription Drug Take-Back Campaign to gather and safely dispose of unwanted prescription and over-the-counter medication.
Over recent years, MATFORCE Dump the Drugs events has collected many thousands of pounds of unwanted medication. The results are promising. Prescription drug abuse among our youth fell from 24% in 2010 to 18% in 2012 (AZ Youth Survey).
Properly disposing of unwanted medication keeps potentially dangerous drugs from getting into the wrong hands. Among youth who report abusing prescription pills, 30% say they took the pills right out of their own homes. Safe disposal also keeps drugs from getting into our water systems.
In the Verde Valley, prescription and over-the-counter medications can be dropped off between 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM at the following locations: Sedona Police Department, 100 Roadrunner Drive; Cottonwood Police Department, 199 S. 6th Street; Camp Verde Marshal’s Office at 646 S. First Street.
In the greater Prescott area, prescription and over-the-counter medications can be dropped off between 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM at the following locations: Prescott Police Department, 222 S. Marina; Prescott Valley Police Department, 7601 E. Civic Circle; and the Chino Valley Police Department, 1950 N. Voss Drive.
MATFORCE encourages everyone to look through your medicine cabinet for expired or unwanted medication and bring it to one of the drop-off locations. For more information call 928-708-0100 or visit the MATFORCE website at matforce.org.