3rd Annual Drug Summit and Purge Your Pills Rx Drop Off Event

StandUP Polk, the Coalition for a Drug-Free Polk, is proud to present two important community events to kick off the 2012 Red Ribbon Campaign, the Annual Drug Summit and Fall Purge Your Pill Rx Drop Off.

The Coalition Partnership of Hardee County Alliance for Substance Abuse and Pregnancy Prevention, Drug Free Highlands, and StandUP Polk is proud to present the 3rd Annual Drug Summit on Thursday, September 27, 2012, from 8 am to 5 pm, at the W.H. Stuart Conference Center, 1710 U.S. 17 in Bartow. This collaborative event will help to inform about the latest drug trends, and develop proactive measures to prevent substance abuse in our families, schools and businesses.


Florida Attorney General, Pam Bondi, will be on hand as a guest speaker, and the keynote speaker for the event will be Paul Doering, M.S., a Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice Emeritus at the University of Florida, College of Pharmacy. Participants may earn free CEU’s, CME’s, or Certificate of Attendance. The fee for the Drug Summit event is $20, and includes breakfast and lunch.


Our community’s first Fall Purge Your Pills Rx Drop Off will take place on Wednesday, September 12, 2012, from 10 am to 1 pm, at Everest University’s Lakeland Campus, located at 995 East Memorial Blvd., Suite 110. For info, call (863) 274-7008.


Then on Saturday, September 29, 2012, StandUP Polk and local law enforcement agencies will join the Drug Enforcement Administration for Prescription Drug Take-Back Day at 6 locations in Polk County, from 10 am to 2 pm, for citizens to turn in unused or unwanted Human and Pet Medications for safe and proper disposal:


Auburndale Police Dept. – 2 Bobby Green Plaza, Auburndale, FL.

Haines City Police Dept. – 35400 Highway 27, Haines City, FL

Lake Alfred Police Dept. – 190 North Seminole Avenue, Lake Alfred, FL

Lake Wales Police Dept. - 133 East Tillman Avenue, Lake Wales, FL

Lakeland Police Dept. – 219 N. Massachusetts Avenue, Lakeland, FL

Winter Haven Police Dept. – 125 N. Lake Silver Drive NW, Winter Haven, FL

Medication may also be taken to any of the county’s 4 permanent drop sites at the Auburndale Police Department (2 Bobby Green Plaza, in Auburndale, weekdays, 8 am-5pm), Haines City Police Department (35400 Highway 27, in Haines City, 24 hours/7 days), Lake Alfred Police Department (190 North Seminole Avenue, in Lake Alfred, 24 hours/7 days), and Winter Haven Police Department (125 North Lake Silver Drive NW, in Winter Haven, weekdays 8am-6pm).

Medications may be safely disposed of at home by dissolving medications in water, mixing with coffee grounds or cat litter, pouring into a zip lock bag, and putting in your trash. Do not dump any medications into the toilet to avoid harming lakes and ground water. Previous prescription medication collections held in Polk County, FL have resulted in nearly 1,700 pounds of recovered pharmaceuticals.

Visit https://secure.qgiv.com/for/standup/event/13015 to register online to attend the Drug Summit. For more information, call Hardee County ASAPP (863) 773-6349 (Suzanne Lambert); Drug Free Highlands (863) 382-2138 (Aisha Alayande); or Stand UP Polk at (863) 802-0777 (Lisa A. Jones).