BELLEFONTE — Since late June, an initiative by the Centre County District Attorney’s Office has proven to be effective in getting unused and unwanted medication off the streets.
The Medication Collection Box program is a direct result of a Pennsylvania District Attorney’s Association grant, which brought six secure drop-off boxes to the county. They were placed in the Willowbank Office Building, the Centre County Sheriff’s Office, the State College Police Department, the Ferguson Township Police Department, the Patton Township Police Department and the University Police and Public Safety Building. A medicine drop box was already in place at the Bellefonte Police Department.
Centre County First Assistant District Attorney Mark Smith said the boxes have filled several times since they were placed.
‘As expected, once word got out, there was a surge in deposits of expired and unwanted medication to a point where the boxes had to be emptied once a week,’ said Smith. ‘Now, usage has tapered down to a point where the boxes can be emptied once a month.’
He said collectors are seeing lots of over-the-counter medications, as well as prescription medications. He said there are liquid pharmaceuticals in their original containers, tablets, capsules and inhalers.
Once full, the boxes are emptied and the contents are incinerated at a Drug Enforcement Agency and Department of Environmental Protection approved incinerator.
For security reasons, the boxes are placed in law enforcement facilities and are fastened securely to the floor. The boxes each carry a price tag of about $800; however, there is no cost to the county.
Smith said there are two benefits for having such drop boxes available to the public.
‘First, they remove commonly abused prescriptions from homes where they are no longer needed. If not removed, these drugs can fall into the wrong hands,’ he said. ‘Second, the boxes help eliminate the environmental concerns related to dumping drugs into landfills or flushing drugs into the water supply.’
Centre County District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller said her office is looking for appropriate locations in Philipsburg, Centre Hall and Millheim to place more boxes.
‘The med boxes are just one step in our overall plan to deal with the heroin/opioid crisis in Centre County,’ she told the Centre County Gazette. ‘While it takes much more than this to make difference, this is certainly one of the building blocks to being proactive and engaging the entire community.’
ITEMS ACCEPTED
Prescription and over-the-counter solid medications; tablets and capsules; pet medicines
ITEMS NOT ACCEPTED
Intravenous solutions; injectables, syringes and needles such as EpiPens (these items should be taken to a health care professional’s office or to a hospital for proper disposal); hydrogen peroxide; compressed cylinders or aerosols (e.g., asthma inhalers); iodine-containing medications; thermometers; alcohol and illicit drugs (i.e. marijuana, heroin, LSD)
