Kyle police host drug takeback event to prevent misuse

HAYS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — The Kyle Police Department hosted a safe medication disposal site at their police station Saturday afternoon.

The event partnered with St. David's HealthCare aimed to help prevent the misuse of prescription medications on National Drug Take Back Day. Jeff Barnett, the Chief of the Kyle Police Department, said holding this event helps reduce the chances of such drugs negatively impacting somebody or the environment.

"We really think that if medication is left in a medicine cabinet over the years, it's either going to fall accidentally or intentionally, through illegal means, into the wrong hands," Barnett said. "It could get sold on the streets illegally. It could get ingested by someone who did not have that prescribed to them-and it could be an accidental ingestion."

Colin Wolf was a local resident depositing various medications at the event, and he said he finally got the "courage" to get rid of a "stockpile" of medications after living in the area for over a decade.

"Most people probably don't go to a police station with a bunch of drugs," Wolf said. "I think it's just doing the right thing-not dumping it somewhere [and] getting it into a water supply."

In Texas, drug poisoning deaths have trended upward from 2014 to 2023 according to data collected by the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS). In 2022 and 2023 DSHS's data shows over 4,000 drug poisoning-related deaths each year. In that span, fentanyl poisoning contributed to over 40% of such deaths in 2022 and 2023.

In 2024, DSHS's data shows the number of deaths recorded has been lower at 3,200. However, the data in 2023 and 2024 are preliminary and subject to change due to death certificates still being filed.

The Hays County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) tracks its own data on Fentanyl overdoses. This data does not incorporate any data that's been collected by other law enforcement agencies in Hays County. Between 2022-2023, HSCO's data collected 56 fentanyl overdose cases. Since the start of 2024, HSCO's data shows that 10 people have overdosed on Fentanyl.

In the 88th Texas Legislature, various pieces of legislation passed to implement fentanyl education for public schools. Mark Andrews, a deputy with HCSO who has been helping with such education, said he likes to think the "message is getting across" with the decrease in opioid poisoning according to HCSO's data and the state as a whole.

"Prior to 2022 many students did not know what fentanyl was," Andrews said. "What we're teaching is basically the dangers of fentanyl-how powerful it is. We talk about the forms that it comes in. We talk about the sheer magnitude of how powerful it is."

In comparison to other drugs, fentanyl is "approximately 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin as an analgesic" according to the Drug Enforcement Administration's drug database.

If you would like to dispose of any drugs but miss the event, you can check the Drug Enforcement Administration's website to find a year-round drug disposal near you.