House Minority Leader Tony McCombie (Savanna) is hosting a series of upcoming prescription drop-off events in partnership with local Sheriffs to help ensure that unused, unwanted, or expired prescriptions are properly disposed of. The three upcoming events will be held at the end of April, in line with National Prescription Take Back Day, a movement backed by the federal Drug Enforcement Agency to help prevent medication misuse and opioid addiction. Event details are as follows:
Stephenson County
German Valley Fire Department, 600 Church St
Saturday April 22nd
Time: 10am-2pm
Carroll County
Leader McCombie’s District Office, 9317B IL Rt. 84
Saturday April 29th
Time: 8am-noon
Jo Daviess County
Elizabeth Community Center, 402 West St
Saturday April 29th
Time: 10am – 1pm
Representative McCombie will be joined by State Representative John Cabello (R-Machesney Park) in Stephenson County as well as Stephenson County Sheriff Steve Stovall; in Carroll County by Sheriff Ryan Kloepping and in Jo Daviess County by Sheriff Kevin Turner.
“This is a great opportunity for residents to clean out their medicine cabinets and safely dispose of old medications. We have this opportunity to work alongside law enforcement to make our communities safer and I encourage everyone to do their part,” said McCombie. “We have our local Sheriffs and law enforcement personnel to thank for their partnership on this event—they are relentless at working hard to keep us, our communities, and our families safe!”
The National Prescription Drug Take Back Day has been an ongoing effort to address the rising opioid epidemic, which Rep. McCombie has taken a leading stand on in the General Assembly by backing a measure to combat fentanyl. While fentanyl has been a rising source of overdoses across the state and nation, her legislation that passed the Illinois House last month would allow pharmacists and retail stores to sell potentially life-saving fentanyl test strips over the counter. Currently, test strips are classified as drug paraphernalia, which has made it impossible to make progress on identifying fentanyl in other drugs. The test strips will be able to identify if fentanyl is present in any drug, which is essential considering only a small dose (only 2 milligrams) of fentanyl can have fatal consequences.
Rep. McCombie’s upcoming series of Prescription Rx Drop Off events is an opportunity for residents of Jo Daviess, Carroll, and Stephenson Counties and the surrounding area to safely dispose of unneeded medications and reduce the risk of opioid abuse and fentanyl poisoning.
This is an outdoor drive-thru event—residents will not have to leave their vehicles to drop off their materials. With questions about the upcoming event, contact Representative McCombie’s district office at 815-291-8989.