ROYAL CITY — The prescription drug take-back program in Royal City brought in 46 pounds of unused prescription medicines this month, even if the take-back events themselves aren’t overwhelming, the Royal City City Council heard at its meeting Tuesday.

“At our first event, we collected about 20 pounds (of prescription medicines), which we thought was a huge success for our first event,” Royal Community Prevention Coalition Coordinator Brisa Sanchez told the council. “And then the second event, we only collected about 15, so just a small amount. This event we collected a little bit less.”

The events are held twice a year, and the first was in October 2021, Sanchez told the Herald in an interview Wednesday.

“The event is called the National Drug Take Back event,” she said. “It is a national initiative from the Drug Enforcement Agency. What we do is, we collect medication from home. We encourage parents, guardians or older teens who have had surgery, who have medication at home, who have over-the-counter medication that is on the stronger end, (that) they no longer have a use for to stop by our events and drop off any medication that they have that is either extra or expired.”

The event on Oct. 29 saw a number of people show up, although only one person actually dropped off any medications. The real success, Brisa said, came from the drop box that is set up in City Hall. The box, which has been in place since April, could hold 33 pounds of medications, but overflowed with an additional 13 pounds, Sanchez said.

“There was a lot. I wasn’t expecting that much,” said Royal City Police Chief Rey Rodriguez at the council meeting.

The goal of the takeback is twofold, Sanchez said.

“Our goal is to keep medication out of the waterways, out of the earth,” she said. “We know that when the medication is just thrown out, either in the garbage or flushed down the toilet or drain, it can get into the water and soil in our communities. So our goal is to help community members understand the importance of safe disposal of medication so that we keep the contamination down.”

The other purpose is to keep potentially dangerous drugs out of the hands of youth, she added.

The medicines collected are sent to the DEA, which incinerates them. The ashes then are safe to dispose of, Sanchez said.

“A lot of credit (goes) to the City Hall because they host that box,” she said. “And it's becoming a resource that community members are using, which is really amazing for us.”

Joel Martin may be reached at [email protected].