On Tuesday, April 24, Boise State’s Health Services will host its semi-annual prescription drug take back. The program allows all members of the Boise State and surrounding community to turn in old and expired medications for safe disposal, free of charge and no questions asked.
The drug disposal program will be held from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. on the Quad.
Members from the Boise Police Department will be on site to collect and secure prescription medications, including pet medications, and answer questions from community members. Once collected, the old prescriptions are safely incinerated. For more information about disposing medications, visit the FDA website. This method of disposal is better than throwing prescriptions away or flushing them down the toilet, where they may leach into the water supply.
Since the start of this semester event in fall 2016, four Idaho campuses – Lewis-Clark State College, College of Idaho, University of Idaho and Boise State – have collected a total of 381 pounds of medication for proper disposal. More than 106 pounds of medication have come from Boise State alone.
Boise State’s prescription drug take back event is part of the Idaho College Health Coalition’s prescription drug prevention program, which is funded by a grant through the Idaho Office of Drug Policy. The Idaho College Health Coalition is a 10-year partnership among the four universities to combat alcohol and drug abuse with the aim of promoting healthy lifestyles among college students.
Twelve percent of Idaho college students report using prescription drugs that were not prescribed to them. The national average for college students abusing prescription drugs is nearly 11 percent. Help make Idaho a safer place to be by safely disposing of your prescription medications.