After a few months of being in operation, the Lubbock Police Department and the Lubbock County Voices Coaltion said the drug drop-off program in downtown Lubbock has been good so far.
The drop-off box was opened in February, with help from a donation from the YWCA.
The goal of the box is to allow people to have a safe, anonymous place to drop off any kind of medication, including prescription drugs, over the counter medications, or even illegal narcotics.
“We’ve had everything from prescriptions, narcotics, illegal narcotics,” Lieutenant Ray Mendoza with the ubbock Police Department said.
Mendoza said they incinerate the drugs that are collected from the drop box.
“We think it’s going very well. The property room often has to empty that thing at least three times a week, sometimes more,” Mendoza said.
Teresa Alvarado with the Lubbock County Voices Coalition said they also think the program is off to a good start.
“We had a great response in February, it did dwindle a little in March, and it has dwindled a little this month, this past month, in April,” Alvarado said.
The drugs can be dropped off anonymously.
“We’re not into knowing who’s bringing the medications, and we do handle that with care, everything is confidential,” Alvarado said.
Alvarado also said she would like a little information about the drugs that are being dropped off.
“If you could at least leave the name of the medication on there, it helps us to identify what doctors are over-prescribing,” Alvarado said. “That is the whole goal at the end, is to help our doctors realize maybe they don’t need to be prescribing so much of this medication.”
The box is located inside the property room, at 816 Texas Avenue and is open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. After hours, people can stop in at the police desk, at 916 Texas Avenue, and tell the front desk what they are there to do.
