Local law enforcement agencies are partnering with area health care providers to host free drug take back events around the First Coast on Saturday.
The goal is to give residents a safe and anonymous way to get rid of leftover medication.
These “Crush the Opioid Crisis Take Back Day” events, sponsored by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the following locations:
- Memorial Hospital Medical Office Building at 3627 University Blvd. S., Jacksonville, FL 32216;
- Memorial Emergency Room Julington Creek at 42 Doctors Village Dr., Saint Johns, FL 32259;
- Orange Park Medical Center Emergency Room at 2001 Kingsley Avenue, Orange Park, FL 32073;
- And Normandy Park ER at 2773 Normandy Blvd., Jacksonville, FL 32205.
According to the American Medical Association, opioid-related deaths have increased since the coronavirus pandemic began.
“More than half of people who misuse opioid medications say they obtained them from someone they know. In the past year, two-thirds of teens who misused pain relievers reported that they got them from family, friends and the home medicine cabinet. And every minute of every day, a poison control center answers a call about a young child who has accidentally ingested medication,” said Dr. Fred Jenkins, Emergency Room Physician and Medical Director at Memorial Hospital.
HCA Healthcare is partnering with local law enforcement agencies in Clay, Duval and St. Johns Counties for the events.
Law enforcement officers will be at each takeback location to safely and anonymously collect unused and expired prescription medications, specifically: tablets, capsules and patches of Hydrocodone (Norco, Lortab, Vicodin), Oxycodone (Oxycontin, Percocet), Tramadol (Ultram), Codeine, Fentanyl (Duragesic), Morphine, Hydromorphone (Dilaudid) and Oxymorphone (Opana).
Needles, syringes, lancets and liquids will not be accepted.
“The safest and most responsible option to dispose of medication is to take unwanted medications to a drug take back site or event,” said Dr. Steven Goodfriend, Emergency Room Physician and Medical Director at Orange Park Medical Center. “Unused opioids thrown in the trash can be retrieved and abused or sold illegally and flushing medications down the toilet pose a potential health and environmental hazard.”
All of the drug take back locations will be drive-thru style and participants are being asked to stay in their vehicles and wear face masks during their drop off.
“HCA Healthcare is committed to bringing frontline solutions to curb the tide of opioid misuse and addiction in the communities that we serve,” said Dr. Jenkins. “COVID-19 has exacerbated the opioid epidemic, and the effort to crush the crisis is now more important than ever.”
Brendan Rivers can be reached at brivers@wjct.org, 904-358-6396 or on Twitter at @BrendanRivers.
