Prescription drop-off box available at Broussard Police Station

The nation is battling an opioid crisis, and Acadiana is not immune to the problem.

Attorney General Jeff Landry says drug overdoses have tripled in Louisiana since 1999 and adds that 60% of opioid abusers become addicted after taking someone else’s prescription.

He believes the best way to stop the opioid crisis from growing is for people to dispose of their unused prescription medication.

“We came up with a goal. That is to put a prescription take-back box in every parish,” Landry said.

The prescription drop-off box sits in the Broussard Police Department. Anyone can drop off their old medications, and they can do it anonymously.

“We’re trying to get the prescriptions off of the street, out of people’s cabinets, and into safe hands where they can be destroyed,” Broussard Police Chief Brannon Decou siad.

After the medicine is collected, the drugs are brought to the district attorney’s office and disposed of.

“No city in America is immune to this epidemic, and it’s our first responders and local police and fire departments that see first-hand the damage it does in our community,” Broussard Mayor Ray Bourque said.

Since the drop-off box was implemented six months ago, the Broussard Police Department has discarded over 500 pounds of prescription medicine.