The Jacksonville Police Department had a successful turnout for its bi-annual Take Back Initiative over the weekend.
In an effort to prevent pill abuse and theft, the JPD and Drug Enforcement Administration team by allowing the community to drop off potentially dangerous, expired and unused prescription drugs at the Jacksonville Municipal Building.
Lieutenant Adam Mefford says the Take Back Initiative gives community members a chance to get unused medications out of the households and away from children.
“We ran the campaign from 10-2 and we had a steady flow of people for the whole four hours. It has been consistently busy for the last several years that I can recall.”
Mefford says the JPD collects a variety of items during the Take Back Initiatives.
“We get anything from non-prescription over the counters to very high potent prescription medications. We don’t check on the labels when they are turned in. This is a completely anonymous program. We just put them into a safety bag and once those bags are full, we seal those bags with evidence tape. The DEA will then pick those up,” says Mefford.
The next Take Back Initiative should take place in the spring.