Officer Abendano with the prescription disposal bin at the Hayden Police Department.
The Hayden Police Department, along with Gila County Health Department, would like to see all unused, leftover or expired prescription drugs out of people’s cabinets and away from our children, and our groundwater.
The Hayden Police Department has partnered with Gila County Health Department to provide a Prescription Drug Drop Off location at the Hayden Police Department. Since Feb. 1, anyone wanting to drop off prescription medications can do so in the green drop off box located in the lobby of the Hayden Police Department, Tuesday through Thursday from 8 a.m. until 3;30 p.m., or by appointment.
Medications accepted are listed on the front of the collection box and include prescription pills, patches, prescription ointments, over-the-counter medications, vitamins and pet medications. Items that cannot be disposed of in the box include needles, lotions, liquids, aerosol cans, inhalers or thermometers.
It is critical that these leftover medications be disposed of properly. However, Hayden Police Department warns people not to flush them into the water table or to throw them in the trash where they can be recovered by children or others.
Prescription drug abuse is a serious problem among our youth. These drugs are often obtained from leftover drugs in family medicine cabinets. Teens have died from mixing these drugs without knowing that mixing some of them can be dangerous and sometimes fatal. Seniors have also suffered by accidentally taking the wrong medication when unneeded medications were left in their cabinet.
Chief Tamatha Villar stated, “The Hayden Police Department has made it a priority to work with our partners in Gila County to help increase public safety and the safety of our most vulnerable populations through the collections of these often dangerous medications.”