Iowa Wesleyan nursing students take part in countywide drug take-back

BY BRYCE KELLY

Mt. Pleasant News

It was a big day for Spring-cleaning on Saturday, but not the kind that likely comes to mind.

In conjunction with Spring 2016 National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day on Saturday, Iowa Wesleyan University?s Division of Nursing took the lead in manning four prescription drug take-back sites around Henry County, an event that nursing students say is of vital importance to area communities.

?We sponsored the event because we do want the community to be healthy and safe,? said Sara Alameddine, a sophomore nursing student at IWU. ?We also want to create awareness about how to properly dispose of medications.?

According to a report from drugabuse.gov, 52 million people in the United States, over the age of 12, have used prescription drugs non-medically in their lifetime. The same report details that a majority (54.2 percent) of prescription drug abusers obtain medications free from a friend or relative, while 16.6 percent claim to have taken or bought them from a friend or relative.

?The main reason we like these types of events (from a law enforcement standpoint) is because it?s getting these unused medications out of medicine cabinets so that people who shouldn?t have them can?t get a hold of them, and so that people are less tempted to use them improperly,? said Mt. Pleasant Police Chief, Ron Archer.

According to the police chief, abuse of prescription drugs is a fairly common issue in southeast Iowa, and has seen an uptick in the last couple of years. And it?s events like these, Archer says, that are helpful in quelling the problem.

During Saturday?s event the Henry County Sheriff?s Office, in Mt. Pleasant; the Mt. Pleasant Police Department, in Mt. Pleasant; Salem Public Library, in Salem; and the New London Police Department, in New London all served as IWU?sponsored drop-off sites.

Outside of Saturday?s event, which was held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., locals can still drop off unused or unwanted medications to the Mt. Pleasant Police Department or the Henry County Sheriff?s Office during normal business hours. Unused and expired prescriptions, or over the counter medications, will be accepted.

?People don?t have to take medications out of the bottle or remove the labels, but they can if they want to. All medications that people bring in remains confidential,? said Archer.

And while Archer agrees that drug drop-off sites certainly tie into law enforcement efforts, there are also environmental benefits to them as well.

According to information released by the DEA, unwanted, expired or unused medications often get discarded in the trash or flushed down a drain, both of which can cause harm to the environment and to public health.

?Unused or old medications really need to be sent to an official disposal site and incinerated,? said Archer. ?Taking medications to these drop-off sites ensures that happens.?