Drugs disposal bank installed at Old Warren

A drugs disposal safe has been installed in Lisburn in a bid to remove illegal and prescription drugs from the streets.
Councillor Scott Carson, Chairman of Lisburn and Castlereagh PCSP with Independent members, PSNI, ASCERT, Resurgam Trust and local pharmacist at the launch of the drugs disposal bin in the LaganView Enterprise Centre.Councillor Scott Carson, Chairman of Lisburn and Castlereagh PCSP with Independent members, PSNI, ASCERT, Resurgam Trust and local pharmacist at the launch of the drugs disposal bin in the LaganView Enterprise Centre.
Councillor Scott Carson, Chairman of Lisburn and Castlereagh PCSP with Independent members, PSNI, ASCERT, Resurgam Trust and local pharmacist at the launch of the drugs disposal bin in the LaganView Enterprise Centre.

Located in the main foyer at LaganView Enterprise Centre, Drumbeg Drive, Old Warren the RAPID (Remove All Prescription and Illegal Drugs) drug disposal safe is a community safety initiative between Lisburn and Castlereagh Policing and Community Safety Partnership (PCSP), PSNI, Resurgam Trust, ASCERT and the local community.

The initiative promotes the removal of all prescription medication, illegal drugs and new psychoactive substances (Legal Highs) from the community.

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The scheme was piloted in 2010 and due to its success further bins have been installed throughout Northern Ireland in partnership with key statutory, community and voluntary groups. Since 2010, over 56,000 tablets have been deposited in RAPID bins.

Ninety per cent of the drugs handed in are prescription or over the counter medicines but illegal drugs and legal highs have also been deposited.

The service is anonymous and the bin can be used by anyone in the community to safely dispose of any unused or out of date medicines, illegal drugs or legal highs. All individuals depositing drugs in the disposal safe are legally protected from further investigation or prosecution.

The disposal safe will be emptied regularly and the drugs will be destroyed.Substances may be tested by the Forensic Service of Northern Ireland to identify them and to assess their toxicity quality.

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The results of all the disposals will be reported back to the community through the PCSP, Resurgam Trust and ASCERT. The safe is not for the disposal of used needles.

For further details contact the drugs outreach team on 0800 2545123.

The PSNI District Commander for Lisburn and Castlereagh Superintendent Sean Wright said, “I welcome this initiative to remove illegal and prescription drugs off the streets of Lisburn.”

Alison Armstrong of ASCERT said, “It`s only been through the great partnership between Resurgam Trust, PCSP, PSNI and ASCERT that this initiative has come to fruition. I`ve no doubt it will be a great success.”

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