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Boone Police Adds a New Medication Drop Box in Front Lobby of Department on Blowing Rock Road

Oct. 2, 2014. The Boone Police Department has added another service for its citizens and visitors. A new medication drop box has been placed in the front lobby of the Boone Police Department located at 1500 Blowing Rock Rd in Boone. This is a safe way to dispose of medications. The Police Department will dispose of the substances collected in the box in a safe and environmentally friendly way.

Logan Shaut, a Project Lazarus intern for the Watauga County Sheriff's Office, demonstrates how the medication dropbox is used.
Logan Shaut, a Project Lazarus intern for the Watauga County Sheriff’s Office, demonstrates how the medication dropbox is used.

“The Boone Police Department is always looking for new and better ways to serve the public and we are happy to provide this service. This new program is already a success because the people of Boone and Watauga County are already using the drop box,” said Chief of Police Dana Crawford

In the past, our residents and visitors had no simple way to properly dispose of these types of medicines. Then the Watauga County Sheriff’s Office began hosting “Operation Medicine Drop” twice per year. This was a big help to the community. The Watauga County Sheriff’s Office and the Boone Police Department now each have a drop box in place at their agencies. These boxes allow people to come by to dispose of un-used or expired medications at their convenience.

“I’d like to say thank you to the awesome people at Project Lazarus for providing this drop box to our department. Project Lazarus does a lot of great things for our community and this is just one example,” Lieutenant Chris Hatton said.

Community members can play a direct role in the prevention of prescription medication abuse and overdose by disposing of their old or un-used medications in one of the boxes located at the Boone Police Department or the Watauga County Sheriff’s Office.

Project Lazarus of Watauga County provided the new drop box to the Police Department. Project Lazarus Watauga is a community organization that works to prevent overdose and abuse of prescription medications through community collaboration, environmental change and public education. For more information about Project Lazarus visit www.projectlazarus.org, or to get involved with the local community coalition email RachelHCCH@gmail.com.

“We are excited about partnering with law enforcement to provide a safe way to dispose of medications. As community members, it is each of our responsibilities to make sure that our medications are being taken correctly, stored safely, disposed of properly, and never shared, said Rachel Florence, Coordinator of Project Lazarus Watauga”