SILVER CREEK TOWNSHIP — One Cass County township took steps toward fighting drug abuse and improper disposal this week.

Tuesday, Silver Creek Township Police and the CASS Community Coalition collaborated to extend Cass County’s Red Med Box Program by placing a permanent Red Med Box in Silver Creek Township Hall, 32764 Dixon St., Dowagiac. The Red Med Box program is a program that allows for the safe disposal of unused and out of date prescription medications, including pet medications, over the counter medications and supplements. The Red Med Box will be accessible 10 a.m. to noon Monday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday.

“This now makes a total of five boxes in the program and six in the county, which gives us more permanent collection boxes per capita than any other county in an eight-county area at least,” said E.J. McAndrew, CASS Coalition coordinator. “We are very happy to add Silver Creek Township to our list of permanent boxes.”

As of October 2018, the Red Med Box program in Cass County has collected 2,144 pounds of pills, according to data collected by the CASS Coalition. To McAndrew, each pound of the pills collected by the program is important, as it helps fight opioid abuse and other problems caused by keeping unneeded pills in the home.

“It helps with drug diversion, as it helps keeps pills out of homes where they could be abused or stolen,” McAndrew said. “It also helps with our environment because it takes it and disposes of it safely, so you aren’t having all of these different medications — prescription or otherwise — flushed down the toilet or in the landfill.”

The new permanent box comes just in time for National Drug Take Back Day, which takes place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. During National Drug Take Back Day, residents are encouraged to rid their homes of unused medications. Saturday, Cass County residents can drop their unwanted medications at Silver Creek Township Hall, Ontwa Township/Edwardsburg Police Department, Howard Township Hall, Marcellus Township Hall, Dowagiac Family Fare and the Pokagon Health Center.

Silver Creek Township has been taking part in National Drug Take Back Day for years, according to Silver Creek Township Police Chief Michael Grice. Now, he said he was happy to have a permanent site for the people of Silver Creek Township to use.

“We want to help get any drugs off the street and help give taxpayers in this community an opportunity to get drugs out of their homes where it could be abused,” Grice said. “It will be nice to offer collection services throughout the year.”

Both Grice and McAndrew said they hope that the new Red Med Box will be a benefit for people in Silver Creek Township and help the program to grow in Cass County.

“People are now becoming more aware that there is an alternative to just keeping medications or flushing them down the toilet,” McAndrew said. “I want to see that continue.”

“We are hoping it gets the drugs off the street and slows down the people who are borrowing or basically stealing drugs,” Grice added. “We are hoping that we can help stop that in some small way and offer an opportunity for people to get rid of their unwanted pills.”