Good Question: No more drug drop offs at police departments?
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ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Let’s answer a good question about disposing of drugs.
This has to do with an overall mission to save lives by keeping unwanted or expired medication out of the wrong hands. The DEA’s national drug take-back day is later in October.
You may have seen a post like this one recently from your local police department. This one is from Rochester Police Department.
It says the department found out CVS was ending its medication disposal for safer communities initiative. RPD was a proud partner of the campaign which included a drug collection point in the lobby of the Public Safety Building. That unit is no longer there.
This notice from Webster PD says the same, no more drug collection bin in house.
That leads us to this question: Why did CVS stop the police drug take back program?
Let's answer a good question about disposing of drugs.
The company says: “From 2014 through 2022, CVS Pharmacy® partnered with local law enforcement agencies to remove more than 1 million pounds of unwanted and expired medications from U.S. households. At this time, the Police Department Grant Program has been discontinued as we focus on our in-store drug disposal initiatives.”
So that’s the answer to why the kiosks aren’t there anymore. Having said that, there are plenty of other options out there.
It just so happens that earlier this year, the NYS Dept. of Health the Department of Environmental Conservation announced the approval of two drug take back campaigns run by groups called Inmar Rx Solutions, Inc. and MED-Project, LLC.
This creates another statewide safe collection program for medications. It’s all part of the state’s Drug Take Back Act.
It mandates manufacturers create, pay for, and manage approved drop off programs for unused drugs. If you want to find a location near you under the new state initiative, look here and here.
In addition, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office has been working with the county’s EcoPark to collect unwanted and expired medications. All three of our MCSO substations have a collection bin to safely dispose of your pharmaceuticals.
If you have a good question that you want us to answer, email Brennan Somers at GoodQuestion@whec.com.