LUBBOCK, Texas (NEWS RELEASE) — The following is a news release from the City of Lubbock Health Department:

The HHSC Region 1 Prevention Resource Center, housed within the City of Lubbock Health Department, in partnership with Hub City Outreach Center and Community Coalition Partners will be hosting several prescription drug disposal opportunities in the community. Staff and volunteers will be at several schools around the area during meal distributions to hand out pill disposal pouches. These pouches can inactivate the chemicals in prescription medications and make them safe to throw away in household trash.

In 2017, more than six million Americans misused prescription drugs, and 2,500 American children abuse prescription drugs for the first time every day. Each year, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) hosts a Take Back Day, and in 2019 they recovered 882,919 pounds of unused prescription medication. This year, that event has been indefinitely delayed, and these pouch giveaway days seek to meet that need.

Pouches can be picked up at the following dates and locations:

  • Thursday, May 21, 2020 from 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. at Monterey High School
  • Friday, May 22, 2020 from 12:00 p.m. -1:30 p.m. at Coronado High School

For more information on the effects of opioid misuse and abuse, visit cdc.gov/drugoverdose.

(News release from the City of Lubbock)