Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics director Darrell Weaver (left) and Jenks Police Chief Cameron Arthur show a medication dropbox Tuesday at the Jenks Police Department. The box will allow disposal of prescription drugs year-round. MATT BARNARD / Tulsa World
JENKS - Local residents will now have a permanent location to drop off unwanted prescription medications.
The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics installed one of their prescription drug disposal boxes inside the lobby of the Jenks Police Department, 211 N. Elm St., on Tuesday afternoon.
The bureau started the drug take-back program two years ago, and the box installed in Jenks puts their total number of boxes across the state at 138.
"Over the last two years, we've taken back 20 tons of unused, unwanted prescriptions out of the cabinets of Oklahomans," said bureau director Darrell Weaver on Tuesday.
Weaver said a bureau agent oversees the collection of drugs and services all boxes, so as not to burden local law enforcement officials.
The bureau has partnered with Covanta Energy in Tulsa, where the drugs are taken to be converted into green energy.
The take-back program aims to help Oklahomans get rid of medications safely, rather than flushing them down a drain where they can contaminate the water or throwing them in the trash where a drug abuser could still find them.
The program also wants to get unwanted drugs out of a home so that they will be out of reach of abusers, or teenagers who might consider selling or trading them, officials said.
"It takes very few of these prescriptions, just a few tablets, to possibly injure or harm one of our young people or any of our citizens," Weaver said.
Weaver also referred to the program as an "amnesty program," where there are no questions asked of those dropping off drugs.
Jenks Police Chief Cameron Arthur said he was happy to have the box in his department.
"I think it's one more tool in our arsenal for us to ... be able to protect our community," he said.
City Manager Mike Tinker said the city has held occasional take-back events in the past, but those events do not always line up with residents' medicine cabinet cleanup sessions. A permanent location is more convenient, he said.
Weaver said all boxes are located in law enforcement agencies.
"Some of these are very potent drugs, so we have to have the highest level of operational security with these boxes," he said.
Weaver said the program is a model for the rest of the country.
Tulsa drop-off sites:
- Tulsa County Sheriff's Office, 303 W. First St.
- Tulsa Police Department, Mingo Valley Division, 10122 E. 11th St.
- Tulsa Police Department, Riverside Division, 7515 Riverside Drive
- Tulsa Police Department, Gilcrease Division, 3436 N. Delaware Ave.
Other area drop-off locations:
- Sand Springs Police Department
- Owasso Police Department
- Sapulpa Police Department
- Glenpool Police Department
- Broken Arrow Police Department
- Bixby Police Department
- Collinsville Police Department
- Mannford Police Department
- Skiatook Police Department
To find a drop-off location near you, visit the bureau web site at
tulsaworld.com/obntakeback
Nour Habib 918-581-8369
nour.habib@tulsaworld.com
Original Print Headline: Jenks has new drug drop-off spot
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