DuPage County Board Approves Two Drug Prevention Measures

Two drug prevention measures were approved by the DuPage County Board on Aug. 23. Members agreed on the expansion of the RxBox Program and the continuation of heroin prevention programs at 13 DuPage County schools.

The DuPage County Health Department's RxBox Program provides safe medication disposal boxes located at various law enforcement agencies. Residents are urged to discard unused or expired prescription medications to prevent misuse or theft of the medication. County Board members allocated $40,000 to expand the number of RxBox kiosks throughout DuPage. There are currently 12 RxBox kiosks throughout the county. Since the program started in 2009, more than 70,000 pounds of unused or expired prescription medications have been collected.

Board members also approved more funding for the Robert Crown Center of Health Education heroin prevention program. Members allocated $24,189.40 to continue the program at 13 DuPage County middle and high schools. To date, 4,800 students, parents, and teachers have participated in the prevention education initiative throughout DuPage.

“Due to the success of the Rx Box program, we knew expanding the number of available drop-off sites would rid our households of unused medications. That’s an important step in reducing the likelihood that someone will abuse or become addicted to those drugs,” County Board Chairman Dan Cronin said. “We want to continue our efforts to promote prevention and awareness as we work with our DuPage Health Department, Coroner Dr. Richard Jorgensen, State’s Attorney Bob Berlin, local law enforcement and our schools. We are determined to reduce the impact of heroin and opioid pain pill abuse in our community.”

The DuPage Heroin Coalition was formed in 2014 due to the growing heroin crisis in DuPage County. These two, new initiatives are part of a strategy discussed by the coalition, chaired by DuPage County Board member Grant Eckhoff.

“Prevention measures like these create a lasting community impact by saving families the emotional and financial costs of drug abuse and addiction. We look forward to deploying these additional Rx Boxes in communities throughout DuPage,” DuPage Finance Committee Chairman Paul Fichtner said.

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