AG Jeff Landry,
BC/BS Partnership Lands Drug Take Back Box at BRPD
BATON ROUGE, LA – Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry
joined Baton Rouge Police Chief Jonny Dunnam today to announce a new effort in
Baton Rouge to combat the opioid epidemic.
Through a partnership with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of
Louisiana (BCBSLA) and the National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators
(NADDI) – General Landry is providing the Baton Rouge Police Department (BRPD)
a drug take back box, in which residents of the Capital Region may drop off
their unused or expired prescriptions.
“Far too often, people who abuse prescription drugs get
them from the medicine cabinets of someone they know so it is a pleasure to
join Chief Dunnam in helping the residents of Baton Rouge rid their homes of
drugs,” said General Landry. “Today’s announcement is the latest step we are
taking to make Louisiana a safer place for our families, friends, and guests.”
The drug take back box to be located at BRPD
Headquarters (9000 Airline Highway) comes at a critical time in Baton Rouge,
where there has been a noticeable uptick of both opioid abuse and crime over
the past year. “Baton Rouge currently ranks 23rd nationally in the percentage of citizens abusing
opioids obtained illegally, and the city ranks 17th nationally in opioid prescriptions being abused,”
explained General Landry. “What’s more: since the Governor expanded Medicaid
welfare last year, the number of opioid prescriptions has nearly doubled in our
State.”
“Studies show that the majority of prescription drugs
abused by teens are obtained from unused prescription medications prescribed to
members of the teen's family and friends,” said Chief Dunnam. “We hope that
having this prescription take back box in our building will help to reduce the
number of people that abuse these potentially addictive drugs that can lead to
overdose. We are excited to join Attorney General Jeff Landry's efforts to help
reduce the number of opioid overdose deaths in our area and help make our
communities safer.”
“As part of our commitment to improve the health and
lives of Louisianians, we are proud to join Attorney General Jeff Landry and
local law enforcement to give more Capital Area residents access to secure drug
disposal boxes," said Michael Tipton, head of Community Relations for
BCBSLA and president of the Blue Cross Foundation. "As part of our shared
effort to lower risks from opioids and other drugs in our state, we are
providing a safe, anonymous way to get rid of unused or expired prescription
medication and prevent abuse, misuse or theft."
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The locations of all Drug Take Back Boxes in Louisiana
may be found at www.EndTheEpidemicLA.org.
