(EL PASO COUNTY, Colo) — Within the neighborhood parks and typical Saturday activities, there were stands across Southern Colorado set up to collect prescription pills and opioids to prevent drug overdoses and accidental poisoning.
“It gives residents an opportunity to go through their unused or expired prescription drugs they may have accumulated in their homes over the years,” said Jennifer Lang from El Paso County Public Health.
Courtesy: FOX21 Photojournalist Hunter Phipps
Pills and bottles were dropped off, filling several kitchen-sized trash bags to the brim. The collection site near the Widefield Parks and Rec Center is a small part of a nationwide event where cities across the country set up drop-off points for old and expired prescription pills and opioids. The Widefield location offered medicine cases, Narcan, and other gifts in a bag in exchange for old pills.
Several other drop-off locations across El Paso County also saw trash bags fill up. In total, the Colorado Springs Police Department tells FOX21 that 1,373 pounds of prescription drugs and opioids were collected during April’s take-back event. Lang says the event has been successful for the past three years.
“We’ve been doing our partnering with our local law enforcement, since then (2022), the Fountain and Widefield area has collected nearly 1,000 pounds of unused or expired medications,” Lang said.
While there are two set drug takeback events each year, Lang encourages every day to be a takeback day where people are getting rid of their old and expired prescription drugs properly. To find a location to properly drop off unwanted opioids or prescription drugs, click here.
As for the drug collection in the Whitefield and Fountain, the exact number, according to El Paso County Public Health, is 968.75 pounds collected from the last six drug takeback events at just the Widefield Parks and Rec Center and the Fountain Library. These efforts come as the most recent data shows 534 people between the ages of 15-24 visited the emergency room because of an overdose in 2023, according to El Paso County Public Health.
