ADEL — In a move meant to push back against the rampant opioid epidemic and addiction to pill popping that has swept America’s rural heartland, Dallas County Sheriff Chad Leonard announced Wednesday the placement of a permanent medication drop box located in the lobby of the sheriff’s office at 201 N. Nile Kinnick Dr.
Steve Lukan, director of the Governor’s Office of Drug Control Policy said he is “pleased to partner with the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office in providing citizens a secure and environmentally responsible option to dispose of unused prescription drugs, thus preventing their potential diversion and abuse.”
Lukan said that “most prescription drugs that are abused come from friends or family, so cleaning out medicine cabinets can save lives.”
Prescription drug abuse is Iowa’s fastest-growing form of substance abuse, Lukan said, and addiction to high-powered pain relievers also fuels the heroin epidemic in Iowa.
Heroin, morphine, fentanyl and prescription pain relievers are all classified as opioid drugs. Their abuse has contributed to an increase in opioid-related overdose deaths in Iowa and the U.S., he said.
According to Leonard, “Many people become addicted to prescription drugs because they started using a family member’s leftover prescriptions. Once addicted some of these individuals may then eventually move to heroin to fulfill that addiction.”
Citizens using the drug drop box are asked to put all prescription drugs in sealed non- breakable containers. Needles, syringes, lancets and other “sharps” are not allowed, Leonard said, because they could cause injury to the staff members servicing the drug drop box.
Leonard said the drug drop box was made possible through a small grant from Lukan’s office. The box will be accessible during normal business hours, he said.
For more information, call the sheriff’s office at 515-993-4771 or the Governor’s Office of Drug Control Policy at 515-725-0305.
