FYI from southern Pennsylvania. Hopefully the beginning of a nation-wide trend:
HARRISBURG (PA) PATRIOT NEWS
CUMBERLAND COUNTY
Drop off unwanted meds, don't flush them
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
BY MATT MILLER
Of Our Cumberland County Bureau
Cumberland County officials want to ensure that expired or unneeded medications
don't get flushed down the toilet and into the drinking water supply.
Cumberland County's Recycling &Waste Authority will stage a no-questions-asked
prescription and over-the-counter medication collection at three Giant stores
on Saturday.
At the state's urging, and in partnership with Giant Food Stores, the agency is
launching the free pilot program. Everything collected will be incinerated,
said Tom Imphong, the county authority's director.
District Attorney David Freed is backing the venture.
"We know we have a problem with prescription medications in this county," Freed
said Thursday. "This will get them out of the hands of kids, out of the hands
of teenagers.
"In home burglaries, prescription drugs are among the things people are looking
for," he added. "This will get them out of people's homes so they won't be a
target for burglars."
The collection -- at the pharmacies in Giant stores in Camp Hill, Carlisle and
Shippensburg Twp. -- is prompted by the state Department of Environmental
Protection's concerns about rising levels of medications turning up in water
supplies, Imphong said.
"Any program to keep substances like this, which are not naturally occurring,
out of the environment is certainly welcome," DEP spokesman John Repetz said.
Because some medications will be controlled substances, county sheriff's
deputies and local and state police will be present to provide security and
take possession of the prescription drugs, Imphong said. Giant's pharmacists
will help identify medications.
No one who brings in medication will be asked for identification or about the
source of the drugs, Imphong said. Labels identifying medications should be
left on the containers, but personal information should be crossed out.
Syringes, bandages, thermometers and other medically related items won't be
accepted.
Imphong estimated the event will cost the county about $8,000, with half to be
reimbursed by DEP.
"If it's successful, we hope it would continue," he said.
MATT MILLER: 249-2006 or [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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