El Paso Police to begin distributing free drug deactivation and disposal bags
The El Paso Police Department is partnering with Aliviane Inc. to distribute free drug deactivation and disposal bags to the public.
These bags have been increasingly used in the East Coast as the region deals with the opioid epidemic. According to police, nearly 64,000 people in the United States died from a drug overdose in 2016. Of those deaths, 66 percent involved an opioid, police said.
People with unused or expired medication pills can use the bags to get rid of the pills safely, police said, adding prescription drug abuse tends to lead heroin use and addiction.
In Texas, there 530 overdose deaths involving heroin in 2016. In the City of El Paso, there were 91 drug-related deaths in 2016 and 103 similar deaths in 2017, police said.
Users open the bag, throw the pills inside, fill the bag with water and then throw the bag in the trash. The pills are dissolved inside the bag, which is biodegradable. Bags will come in three sizes: 15, 45 and 90 pills.
“The medications are neutralized and do not contaminate anything once the bag is thrown away in the trash,” said El Paso Police Spokesman Darrel Petry, “This is an exiting program. We get to be an extension of Aliviane and get these bags out to the public.”
EPPD will be the distribution center for the bags, currently available free to the public at all regional command centers. The bags can be picked up 24/7 at all front desks, Petry said.
“Last year, we lost more than 100 individuals in the El Paso Community due to drug overdose deaths,” an Aliviane spokeswoman said, “Even if we save one life, it’s a successful partnership.”
Aliviane, Inc. is a nonprofit community-based program that helps with prevention, intervention, treatment, and recovery programs in the areas of substance abuse and drug addiction.
