Community Volunteers Collect More Than Half a Ton of Unused Medication at Drug Take Back Day

BATON ROUGE, La. – Community healthcare, law enforcement and first-responder volunteers beat their stated goal and collected more than 1,000 pounds of old, unused or leftover medications at a Drug Take Back Day Event on Saturday, April 27. The event had more than 250 visitors, and volunteers filled 33 boxes with half a ton of pills and capsules for safe disposal.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana sponsored the event, along with the Baton Rouge Health District and local law enforcement and first responder partners. Partners involved include (listed in alphabetical order): 

• Acadian AmbAcadian Ambulance
• Ace Waste
• Baton Rouge Health District partners (Blue Cross, Woman’s Hospital, Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, Ochsner – Baton Rouge and Baton Rouge General)
• U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration – local branch
• Federal Bureau of Investigation – local branch
• Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry’s office
• Baton Rouge Police Department
• Coca Cola Bottling Company Baton Rouge
• East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney’s Office on Drug Policy
• Guaranty Broadcasting
• Healthy Blue Louisiana
• Little Caesar’s Pizza
• Louisiana Office of State Fire Marshal
• Louisiana Society of Health System Pharmacists
• Sexual Trauma Awareness & Response (STAR)
• Special Olympics
• Top Golf
• Zachary Fire Department

Year-round, anyone can get rid of leftover medication at secure drug drop boxes throughout the state. These boxes are installed through a partnership among Blue Cross, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry’s office, National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators and local law enforcement agencies. Visit www.bcbsla.com/safedrugdrop to see a list and map of locations. 

Blue Cross has produced a video about the success of Drug Take Back Day 2019—and why cleaning out your medicine cabinet is so important.

Photo: Community partners who hosted and volunteered at Drug Take Back Day stand with the boxes of collected medication. Volunteers collected 33 boxes of medication – more than 1,000 pounds!

About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana is committed to our mission to improve the health and lives of Louisianians. We invest both time and money in the communities we serve, supporting the health and well-being of Louisianians through more than 200 charitable organizations.

With our subsidiaries, HMO Louisiana and Southern National Life, we provide group and individual health insurance plans, life and disability insurance, group voluntary products and administrative services to one out of four Louisiana residents. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana also provides Medicare supplement and Medicare Advantage plans and is a partner in offering the Healthy Blue Medicaid Managed care plan. Louisiana is the only state where we operate, with offices in every major region to serve our customers.

Founded in New Orleans in 1934, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana is a tax-paying non-profit health insurer. We are a private mutual company, owned by our policyholders, with an independent Louisiana Board of Directors and no shareholders. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

To learn more, visit our website at www.bcbsla.com.