Township to hold Prescription Drug Collection

The collection program, which was initiated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, DEA, is a collaborative effort involving state and local as well as federal law enforcement agencies.  It has several goals. 

First, pharmaceuticals and OTC medications expire, lose potency, and in some cases spoil.  Their effects on the patient, as a result, are not what they are supposed to be.  So drugs should be discarded after their expiration dates to safeguard the health of the people for whom those medications were prescribed.  Even with current medications, there is no system in place for donating pharmaceuticals to charitable causes.

Second, medicines that enter the sanitary sewer system through toilets or drains create problems for the wastewater treatment industry and for the environment.  Because the process that sewage treatment plants use is not designed to remove most pharmaceuticals, those drugs enter into waterways and ultimately into drinking water.  Reports of deformities to fish and amphibians in affected waters have linked those findings to the increased levels of medications, personal care products, and related byproducts showing up in waters below wastewater treatment plants.  Their impact on humans is a matter of concern to public health officials.

Third, some prescribed medications have established markets as street drugs.  They can be stolen, they can be accessed by children from home medicine cabinets, they can poison household pets, and they can become a source of drug abuse and criminal behavior.  Medications in the wrong hands can lead to addiction and serious social problems. 

The abuse of Over the Counter medications can have similar consequences.  So the DEA collections – which will be taking place in communities throughout the country at the same time – are intended to provide a safe and discrete method for disposing of unwanted drugs which may have accumulated in the home. 

Police officers will safeguard the medication collection boxes, but their presence on site is neither for investigation nor for enforcement; no questions will be asked of those bringing in items for disposal and no identification is needed.  All collected medicine will be turned over to the DEA for destruction.  Last year, Cranberry’s first Take-Back day, took in more than 85 pounds of drugs.

Tablets, capsules, and pills, whether purchased by prescription or over-the-counter, will be accepted.  A drive-thru deposit station will be available behind the Municipal Center.  Drugs must be deposited loose, outside of their original containers.  There is no charge for the disposal service.