The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office has a permanent prescription drug drop box located in Town Hall, giving Fountain Hills residents an easy way to dispose of their unneeded or unwanted medications.

While activity was a bit down during the summer months, locals still made good use of the service. According to a report during the Aug. 22 meeting of the Fountain Hills Youth Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition, 61.2 pounds of prescription drugs were dropped off in May for proper disposal.

Another 36 pounds were dropped off in June, with 32.4 arriving in July and 34.6 in August. That’s a total of 164.2 pounds for the quarter.

Those wishing to use the drop box can visit Town Hall during regular business hours, located at 16705 E. Avenue of the Fountains. The drop box is located in the lobby, next to the MCSO office on the right. Pills should be poured into a sealable bag. No liquids, creams or needles should be included. Simply drop the bag into the drop box and you’re done.

The purpose of the drop box is to address a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse and abuse.

Rates of prescription drug abuse in Arizona are notably high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. In addition, Arizonans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines – flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash – both pose potential safety and health hazards.

For more information about preventing prescription drug abuse, go to fhcoalition.org.

P3 activity

Summertime is also a slow time for reports through the P3 Tips service, which replaced the popular “Text-A-Tip” program earlier this year.

The P3 application-based format allows residents to take advantage of new options for reporting incidents around town while remaining anonymous.

A total of 18 local tips were logged recently including seven tied to traffic incidents and another five relating to drug/alcohol use.

The P3 application is available on Apple and Android devices. Simply search for “P3 Tips” where you would normally download an app, and make sure it says it is developed by Anderson Software.

Once the application is set up, users can choose from categories before sending a tip, allowing the information to be more easily channeled to the proper authorities. There’s even a school category, allowing students to provide anonymous tips directly affecting their school campus. Another added feature is the ability to attach photos to tips, as well as the ability to track the progress of a tip after it has been reported.

If the authorities need to get back in touch with the person sending the tip, it will also be handled through the application and, again, the contact is anonymous.