New Drop 2 Stop Drop Box Unveiled At Syracuse Police Dept.
February 25, 2022 at 12:13 a.m.
New Drop 2 Stop Drop Box Unveiled At Syracuse Police Dept.
By David [email protected]
One of the 525 Foundation’s programs is the Drop 2 Stop drop boxes, with a new drop box unveiled at the Syracuse Police Department Thursday morning. It is the third location in the county to have the Drop 2 Stop boxes so far.
The Drop 2 Stop program features Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)-approved secure drop boxes that allow people to properly dispose of expired or unwanted prescription drugs anytime.
“Basically, our mission is to promote prevention through education and awareness. And, the Drop 2 Stop program is one of our programs where we try to encourage communities to safely dispose of their medications so they can not fall into the wrong hands,” Savage said
She said they love partnering with different communities, helping them get the boxes in, whether that’s at police or sheriff departments. Savage said she’d like to see a drop boxes at every sheriff’s or police department across the state.
“I know they’re able to take back expired medications. Anybody can walk up to a sheriff’s department and drop off medications, but I think it just makes it more convenient if someone can just - where there’s no questions asked - you just drive up, drop off your medications and go. You don’t have to get out of your car so it’s convenient,” she said. “And it’s safe. You’re at a police department, a sheriff’s department. There’s that sense of safety when you do that.”
She said they encourage people to drop off any prescription medications that are not being used or are expired.
“We don’t encourage needles to be dropped off because we know that there are other places they can drop that off and just for the safety of the people emptying the boxes,” Savage said. Anything that has a combustible canister also should not be dropped off in the drop boxes.
“The meds are incinerated. They are picked up as part of the DEA takeback that happens twice a year and they incinerate all of those medications,” she said.
In the last year, they’ve collected just under 20,000 pounds of pills in the northern Indiana region area, which includes Syracuse, she said.
Syracuse Police Chief Jim Layne said they had 460 pounds, which was average with past collections.
For more information, visit the 525 Foundation’s website at 525Foundation.org. All of their programs, locations of Drop 2 Stop drop boxes, a box finder and more information on other topics can be found on the website.
525 Foundation’s funding has come from a lot of private donations, Savage said.
“We’ve had a wonderful partnership with Terry Bradshaw, the football player, who actually comes in and does a fundraiser for us once a year. They made a connection with us when they saw us on the Megyn Kelly Today Show. They reached out to us because they had a family member that had passed away from substance misuse and they just felt that connection with our family and every year since, they’ve come in, so that’s been helpful to have that fundraiser once a year,” Savage explained.
Throughout the year, they also have other fundraisers, and she said they are starting to apply for grants.
Savage has traveled all across the country telling her family’s story “in hopes that there’s going to be a Nick and Jack, my two older boys, out in the crowd of students that I talk to, so that hopefully they’ll make a better choice.”
When Nick was 19 and Jack was 18, they were at graduation parties and participating in underage drinking. Someone had brought a prescription pill bottle that didn’t belong to them there. A group of kids, including her sons, experimented that night, resulting in five overdoses and two fatalities. Nick and Jack Savage were pronounced dead inside their home on June 14, 2015.
“So that’s kind of our why, with why we really try to encourage communities to do safe disposals and participate in take-back days, so that prescription pills aren’t in a teenager’s pocket at a graduation party,” she said. “We’re not against prescription pills. Being a nurse, I think there’s a time and a place for that. I’m for proper storage of your medications when you have it, and be mindful of your disposal.”
She encouraged people to check out the website and the new drop box at the Syracuse Police Department next to Town Hall.
“We have such a large problem in our communities with overdoses. Over the last 12 months, there have been almost 120,000 overdose deaths in our communities. That’s equivalent to almost 33 cruise ships sinking in one year with 100% fatalities,” Savage said. “So, if that were happening, we would all be talking about what we can do to stop these cruise ships from sinking. I’m just trying to encourage conversations to start so we can start talking about what we can do in our communities to make a difference so that these overdose deaths stop, whether it’s starting a conversation, safely disposing of your medications, getting involved in take-back days. Whatever it is, every little bit helps.”
Layne said the new drop box is in the same safe location as the previous box.
“It takes drugs off the street,” he said about how it will help the Syracuse community. “Grandparents, anybody who has expired medication or a change of medication, old medication where it’s sitting in their home unused, they can dispose of it safely and securely and keep it out of the reach of their children or grandchildren.”
One of the 525 Foundation’s programs is the Drop 2 Stop drop boxes, with a new drop box unveiled at the Syracuse Police Department Thursday morning. It is the third location in the county to have the Drop 2 Stop boxes so far.
The Drop 2 Stop program features Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)-approved secure drop boxes that allow people to properly dispose of expired or unwanted prescription drugs anytime.
“Basically, our mission is to promote prevention through education and awareness. And, the Drop 2 Stop program is one of our programs where we try to encourage communities to safely dispose of their medications so they can not fall into the wrong hands,” Savage said
She said they love partnering with different communities, helping them get the boxes in, whether that’s at police or sheriff departments. Savage said she’d like to see a drop boxes at every sheriff’s or police department across the state.
“I know they’re able to take back expired medications. Anybody can walk up to a sheriff’s department and drop off medications, but I think it just makes it more convenient if someone can just - where there’s no questions asked - you just drive up, drop off your medications and go. You don’t have to get out of your car so it’s convenient,” she said. “And it’s safe. You’re at a police department, a sheriff’s department. There’s that sense of safety when you do that.”
She said they encourage people to drop off any prescription medications that are not being used or are expired.
“We don’t encourage needles to be dropped off because we know that there are other places they can drop that off and just for the safety of the people emptying the boxes,” Savage said. Anything that has a combustible canister also should not be dropped off in the drop boxes.
“The meds are incinerated. They are picked up as part of the DEA takeback that happens twice a year and they incinerate all of those medications,” she said.
In the last year, they’ve collected just under 20,000 pounds of pills in the northern Indiana region area, which includes Syracuse, she said.
Syracuse Police Chief Jim Layne said they had 460 pounds, which was average with past collections.
For more information, visit the 525 Foundation’s website at 525Foundation.org. All of their programs, locations of Drop 2 Stop drop boxes, a box finder and more information on other topics can be found on the website.
525 Foundation’s funding has come from a lot of private donations, Savage said.
“We’ve had a wonderful partnership with Terry Bradshaw, the football player, who actually comes in and does a fundraiser for us once a year. They made a connection with us when they saw us on the Megyn Kelly Today Show. They reached out to us because they had a family member that had passed away from substance misuse and they just felt that connection with our family and every year since, they’ve come in, so that’s been helpful to have that fundraiser once a year,” Savage explained.
Throughout the year, they also have other fundraisers, and she said they are starting to apply for grants.
Savage has traveled all across the country telling her family’s story “in hopes that there’s going to be a Nick and Jack, my two older boys, out in the crowd of students that I talk to, so that hopefully they’ll make a better choice.”
When Nick was 19 and Jack was 18, they were at graduation parties and participating in underage drinking. Someone had brought a prescription pill bottle that didn’t belong to them there. A group of kids, including her sons, experimented that night, resulting in five overdoses and two fatalities. Nick and Jack Savage were pronounced dead inside their home on June 14, 2015.
“So that’s kind of our why, with why we really try to encourage communities to do safe disposals and participate in take-back days, so that prescription pills aren’t in a teenager’s pocket at a graduation party,” she said. “We’re not against prescription pills. Being a nurse, I think there’s a time and a place for that. I’m for proper storage of your medications when you have it, and be mindful of your disposal.”
She encouraged people to check out the website and the new drop box at the Syracuse Police Department next to Town Hall.
“We have such a large problem in our communities with overdoses. Over the last 12 months, there have been almost 120,000 overdose deaths in our communities. That’s equivalent to almost 33 cruise ships sinking in one year with 100% fatalities,” Savage said. “So, if that were happening, we would all be talking about what we can do to stop these cruise ships from sinking. I’m just trying to encourage conversations to start so we can start talking about what we can do in our communities to make a difference so that these overdose deaths stop, whether it’s starting a conversation, safely disposing of your medications, getting involved in take-back days. Whatever it is, every little bit helps.”
Layne said the new drop box is in the same safe location as the previous box.
“It takes drugs off the street,” he said about how it will help the Syracuse community. “Grandparents, anybody who has expired medication or a change of medication, old medication where it’s sitting in their home unused, they can dispose of it safely and securely and keep it out of the reach of their children or grandchildren.”
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