Youth Advisory Committee Takeback Survey
The Grundy Area Vocational Center’s Criminal Justice II class has been working with the Behavioral Health Alliance of Grundy County as the BHA’s Youth Advisory Committee to address the opioid overdose epidemic. Their survey has now been completed, so thank you to all who participated. Stay tuned for more information about this project.
Guard and Discard October-November 2019 Campaign Message
Illinois’s new opioid misuse prevention campaign is underway, working to educate residents about the responsible use and safe disposal of medications. It’s called Guard and Discard.
The current message focuses on the safe use, storage, and disposal of medications. The message also showcases the statewide addiction helpline: 1-833-2FINDHELP.
If you would like 11×17-inch posters or 5.5×8.5-inch postcards for sharing at your organization, please contact Anita Young at 815-725-3868 or email [email protected].
Why Proper Disposal of Unused Medications Is So Important
Chances are you haven’t given much thought to what’s hanging out in your home
medicine cabinet, but you should. Hanging onto old and unneeded prescriptions creates health risks for everyone in your home:
- Taking a drug not intended for you—or one taken by your child accidentally—could result in a trip to the emergency room.
- Using medication beyond its expiration date may not be effective.
- Someone in your family or someone else who spends time at your home could be tempted to misuse certain drugs to develop and/or feed an addiction. This is especially true for certain commonly abused opioid painkillers (Vicodin, Oxycontin, Percocet, etc.), depressants (Xanax, Valium, etc.), and stimulants (Adderall, Ritalin, etc.).
It’s important to go through your cabinets to periodically remove old and unneeded medications of all kinds—prescriptions, over-the-counter medicines, and other medicated products such as inhalers and ointments. Pack them up and bring them to a local drug takeback program.
The Grundy County Coroner’s Office provides drug take-back drop-off sites throughout Grundy County:
Grundy County Coroner’s Office, 1320 Union St., Morris
Grundy County Sheriff’s Office, 111 E. Washington St., Morris
Channahon Police Department, 24555 S. Navajo Drive, Channahon
Coal City Pharmacy, 175 South Broadway St., Coal City
Coal City Police Department, 5455 South Broadway St., Coal City
Minooka Police Department, 121 E. McEvilly Road, Minooka
Morris Police Department, 200 East Chapin St., Morris
In addition to medications, sharps will be accepted in approved containers by the Coroner’s Office and Coal City Police Department.
You can get more information by downloading the Grundy County Coroner Take Back Brochure or by calling the Coroner’s Office at 815-942-3792.
BHA Youth Advisory Committee Conducts Medication Takeback Survey
The Grundy Area Vocational Center’s Criminal Justice II class has been working with the Behavioral Health Alliance of Grundy County as the BHA’s Youth Advisory Committee to address the opioid overdose epidemic. The class includes seniors from Morris, Minooka, and Gardner-South Wilmington High Schools.
One part of the project is to gather information on medication disposal behaviors of Grundy County residents to help gauge the need for increased disposal options and community education. The students chose to implement a survey in an effort to obtain as much input from the community as possible.
A total of 439 people responded to the survey and gave input showing that most of them did not know about the take-back bins available in Coal City, Minooka, and Morris. It also showed a strong support in the community for safe disposal of medications. If you would like to know more, please download the YAC Takeback Survey Report.