MINI with a message
Montco D.A. unveils mobile drug take back initiative
It’s a MINI with a message and Montgomery County’ s top law enforcer maybe driving it to an event near you as he touts the importance of getting rid of unwanted pills as a way to help prevent opioid abuse.
District Attorney Kevin R. Steele recently unveiled a colorfully painted MINI Cooper hatchback that officials have dubbed the “Pill Take Back Mobile MINI.”
Fitted with a green pill disposal box in the cargo area, the vehicle showed up at some community “National Night Out” events this week and will allow citizens to anonymously dispose of unwanted medications as part of the district attorney’s ongoing“Drug Take Back Days” program.
“We’ve been very successful with our take back programs and our effort is to try to get drugs out of the medicine cabinets. One of the criticisms we’ve heard is it’s sometimes difficult to get to the police department so we’re trying to make it easier on people and we’re going to use the mobile MINI pill mobile to take the collection box directly to the constituents of Montgomery County,” Steele explained.
Typically, the district attorney’s office, in conjunction with the Police Chiefs Association, coordinates two official drug take back days each year, however, drug return boxes are available year-round at the county’s police departments, the courthouse and some medical facilities.
Since the prescription medication disposal program was launched in 2010, nearly 50,000 pounds of unwanted, unneeded and expired prescription and over-the-counter medications have been collected and safely destroyed, according to Steele.
“This is another opportunity for people to do that,” Steele said about the mobile MINI program.
In addition to being present at some of the upcoming “National Night Out” festivities, officials plan to take the MINI to local fairs and senior events in the county to make the disposal program more accessible to the public.
“We’re going to give the car a lot of time out on the road,” Steele added.
The mobile MINI comes at no cost to taxpayers and has been supported through donations.
Affordable Auto Norristown donated the MINI Cooper, EDGE Signs and Graphics of Collegeville designed the graphics for the vehicle and Pennsylvania American Water sponsored the green pill collection box for the vehicle.
“We’re very appreciative of the donations that got us to this point,” Steele said.
The drug collection program provides an opportunity for citizens to discard their unwanted, unused or expired pharmaceuticals in an environmentally safe manner by avoiding flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash, which pose environmental and health hazards, officials said.
Officials said studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends and often come from the home medicine cabinet. Steele said for some teens, access to these pills can lead to addiction.
“This is such an important part to fighting the opioid, heroin and fentanyl epidemic because most people start with the pills. If we can get them out of the medicine cabinet where they’re not accessible to young people, we’re making a great start at the preventative efforts that we need to stop this epidemic,” Steele said.
Steele’s reaction to being behind the wheel of the MINI, “I was surprised at the room I had despite my height, there was plenty of room to drive. It was a comfortable ride.”
As the vehicle was parked outside the courthouse one day this week, citizens gawked at the colorful, exaggerated caricatures of pill bottles embossed on it and told Steele, “I like your car.”
“There were double-takes by a lot of people as I drove by,” Steele smiled after taking the MINI for one recent spin around the courthouse.
As one defense attorney caught a glimpse of Steele behind the wheel he quipped, “That was about the last person I’d expect to see in that car.”