AHS Hosts Annual Pill Drop

A 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health showed that 6.4 million Americans abused controlled prescription drugs. This study also showed, according to the AHS Pill Drop sign, that many of these prescription drugs were obtained from family members and friends, often from a medicine cabinet.

The Arrowhead 8th annual Pill Drop will take place at North campus on April 28th from 10am through 2pm.

Every year, says sophomore Maggie Siepmann, students in Med Terms are required at least one hour of the Pill Drop, and the event was run by students 100%.

A change came this year when staff realized the “increasing danger” of fentanyl, “a little drop can cause an overdose,” says Med Terms teacher Laura Miller. AHS students can now be apart of any physical touching of any drugs anymore.

On April 28th, the Sheriff’s office and DEA are running the Pill Drop at Arrowhead, along with coordinating a nationwide “Take Back the Drug Day,” on the same day.

All drugs that are dropped off, by any community member over 18, go from AHS directly to the Sheriff’s office, where there the officers sort the drugs into different groups, and then are taken down to Indiana and are “properly disposed of,” according to Miller. She believes that the drugs are burned in a controlled environment but is not 100% sure.

According to Siepman, only students in Med Terms can participate in coordinating the Pill Drop, but kids from all around the city are “highly” encouraged to bring their parents and any extra medication not being used.

Siepmann also says that donations to Your Choice to Live, non-profit that provides alcohol and drug prevention, education, intervention and support, are also very welcoming.

In her three years of helping out with the Pill Drop, Miller has learned some things that are very important, one being that it is good for high school students to see what it’s like out in the real world, and it is important for a lot of people in the community to know that flushing your drugs down the toilet creates a cycle, and that goes back into our water system, which is not safe. It’s better to properly dispose of it.

From a student’s perspective, one fact of information that Siepmann thinks is really important to let the community know is that opioid addiction is rapidly increasing, and the best solution is to “eliminate the drugs first.”