METRO DETROIT – The Drug Enforcement Agency and Detroit Police Department are coming together Saturday for something they hope will have an impact far greater than any drug bust.
For some households, the medicine cabinet can be a deadly drug dealer, which is why the DEA is partnering with DPD and the Love Detroit Prevention Coalition to increase collection efforts across Metro Detroit.
RELATED: Get rid of unused medications at three Washtenaw County take back sites Saturday
“Think about who has access to your medicine cabinets that are typically in your bathroom,” said Detroit DEA Diversion program manager Kathy Federico. “You’ve got family members, you’ve got your kids.”
Federico said the annual Drug Take Back Day is crucial in preventing dangerous drugs from getting in the wrong hands.
“Those are going to get out into the street. They’re going to get into the wrong hands and they’re going to kill somebody,” Federico said.
For 2021, they’re beefing up efforts to increase the amount of drugs collected in Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
“This year -- with the goal of increasing our collection efforts in the city -- the Detroit Police Department is going to be manning all their take back collections on April 24th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.,” Federico said.
Aside from a stronger working relationship with DPD, the DEA is partnering with the Love Detroit Prevention Coalition in hopes of spreading awareness even further, especially among the youth in the community. Their PSA-style ads can already be seen on social media.
“The Love Coalition has been out in the communities. They’ve been doing a lot of public awareness with the community and they’ve been extremely instrumental in bringing DEA and the Detroit police together for this take back event,” Federico said. “We’re hoping that this is going to bring bring people from the community out to bring all those dangerous medications from their medicine cabinet and put them in their collection sites.”
Drugs can be dropped off at the Guidance Center in Southgate, located at 13101 Allen Road; the Inkster Police Department, located at 26279 Michigan Avenue; and the following locations in Detroit:
- DPD 2nd Precinct, 13530 Lesure Street
- DPD 3rd Precinct, 2875 Grand Boulevard
- DPD 4th Precinct, 4700 Fort Street
- DPD 5th Precinct, 3500 Conner Street
- DPD 6th Precinct, 11450 Warwick Street
- DPD 7th Precinct, 3501 Chene Street
- DPD 8th Precinct, 21555 McNichols Road
- DPD 9th Precinct, 11187 Gratiot Avenue
- DPD 10th Precinct, 12000 Livernois Avenue
- DPD 11th Precinct, 5100 Nevada Avenue
- DPD 12th Precinct, 1441 Seven Mile Road
- The Youth Connection, 4777 Outer Drive
Medications can also be dropped off at any of Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network’s 24 red boxes located throughout Wayne County. Click here to find a drop-box near you.
More information can be found on the DEA’s official website here.