Fusion Pharmacy houses prescription medication drop box in Santa Clara
By Terri Draper
With a donation of $5,000 from Intermountain Healthcare that covers the installation and first three years of operational costs, Fusion Pharmacy now has a prescription drop box inside its Santa Clara location. This drop box provides a place for residents to safely dispose of unused or expired medication free of charge and is open for use during regular business hours. The partnership was fostered by the Washington County Prevention Coalition, which facilitated the relationship to make the community project possible.
Overdose deaths caused by opioids have been labeled a “national epidemic” by the U.S. Surgeon General, and Utah currently has an overdose rate higher than the national average. The drug poisoning death rate per 100,000 people is 12.5 people nationally, and 21.7 in Utah, which is consistent with local overdose rates. Currently, drug poisoning is the leading cause of accidental death in Utah and Washington County.
“Intermountain is appreciative of great community partners like Fusion Pharmacy and the Prevention Coalition who are willing to step up and make significant changes in our community,” said Amber Rich, community health coordinator at Intermountain Dixie Regional Medical Center. “The reality is that more people die from overdose of prescription medication than all other illicit drugs combined in our state. This drop box’s main purpose is to help make our homes and families safer.”
She charged people to take more personal responsibility about what they keep in their medicine cabinets and what they put in their bodies.
“The vast majority of people who are addicted to opioids get them from family or a friend,” Rich said. “If it’s in your house, keep it locked up, and when you’re done, put it in a drop box!”
Steve Snow at Fusion Pharmacy said he looks forward to the conversations he hopes the drop box will generate.
“I feel like it’s valuable to have drop box in every community, and particularly in a pharmacy, because it gives us an opportunity to educate the community about other options for pain control,” Snow said.
The Center for Disease Control reported that three out of four people who used heroin in the past year took prescription opioids first, and after taking opioids for just five days, a person is more likely to take the medication long term. The irony is that opioids only provide an average of 20–30 percent pain relief when used for pain lasting even less than three months. Because the body adapts to opioids so quickly, tolerance and dependency are biological responses that can happen within a week of taking medication, even when taking the medication as prescribed. Research is consistently showing that opioids are often not as effective at treating chronic pain as some over-the-counter painkillers.
“We acknowledge that pain is individual, and it’s not one pill fits all,” said Snow. “If we can effectively target chronic pain or inflammation with a different method, then it lessens a person’s resistance to giving up prescription opioids. Once they see it can work, it makes it far easier to give up the medications they’ve relied on for so many years.”
Teresa Willie, Washington County Prevention Coalition coordinator, said that drop boxes keep individuals safe as well as the environment.
“This new drop box is an important step in educating the community about the dangers of prescription medication and making drug disposal part of our everyday routine,” said Willie. “We strongly encourage people to use drop boxes, because flushing or throwing out these medications can have damaging effects on our soil and water supply.”
For a complete listing of drop box locations and additional information about safe use, safe storage, and safe disposal of medication, please go to useonlyasdirected.org.
Drop box locations in Washington County
Watson Dixie Pharmacy at Dixie Regional Medical Center
1380 E. Medical Center Dr., St. George
Hours: Mondays–Fridays, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Fusion Pharmacy
1100 N. Canyon View Dr., Santa Clara
Hours: Mondays–Fridays, 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Stapley Pharmacy
102 E. City Center, St. George
Hours: Mondays–Fridays, 9 a.m. 7 p.m.; Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Stapley Pharmacy (inside Carter’s Market)
167 E. Main St., Enterprise
Hours: Mondays–Fridays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Hurricane City Police Department
90 S 700 W, Hurricane
Hours: Mondays–Thursdays, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Fridays, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
St. George City Police Department
265 N 200 E, St. George
Hours: 24 hours a day, seven days a week
Washington City Police Department
95 N. Main St., Washington
Hours: Mondays–Fridays, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Washington County Sheriff’s Office
750 S 5300 W, Hurricane
Hours: Mondays–Fridays, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Dixie State University Police
300 S 800 E, St. George
Hours: Mondays–Fridays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
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